Chandigarh: 4 running fake placement agency arrested, duped resident of Rs 21K

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, April 22

Four fraudsters, including a mechanical engineer, operating a sham placement agency to cheat people seeking job, have been arrested by the Cyber Crime Investigation Cell of the UT police. Among their victims is a city resident who was coned out of Rs 21,500.

A woman had uploaded her resume on a job portal. She received an email from a placement agency for an interview at its office in Sector 17. The victim visited the given address where she met the suspects, who interviewed her. They handed her a letter of intent. The victim was told that she had been selected for a job at a private hospital in Mohali.

The fraudsters made her pay Rs 21,500 for a laptop which was to be provided to her later on. She was also given a receipt in the name of Paramount HR Services.

A few days later, the suspects demanded more money, following which the victim visited their office and found the company had shut operations there. She came to know that the suspects had hired the workspace for two days.

She informed the police about the fraud and an investigation was started.

“The investigation revealed that the suspects had cheated people in many cities, including Delhi, Mumbai, Surat, Ranchi, Ahmedabad, Jaipur, Jodhpur and Indore,” the police said.

The police raided a hotel in Jaipur and nabbed Mohammad Danish Quamar, alias Mohit Rajput (28), a mechanical engineer, who is a native of Bihar; Sunil Singh, alias Rakesh (48); and Sumit (24), both Delhi residents.

Danish told the police that in 2022, he, along with his friend Abinash Kumar, alias Gaurav Khote, started Paramount HR Services to cheat people. Consequently, Abinash a resident of Noida, was also arrested.

Modus operandi

Accused used to gather information about people seeking employment from various job portals and schedule fake interviews in a particular city. Posing as staff of a legitimate placement agency, they used to hire workspace for a few days and flee after duping people.

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