The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Odisha Crime Branch has made a significant arrest in a major interstate job fraud case, apprehending a key suspect from Delhi. The accused, identified as Gautam Kumar, a 45-year-old native of Dumaria Parbatta village in Bihar's Khagaria district, was arrested from the Rohini area on Monday. He is alleged to be part of a larger racket that deceived job aspirants across multiple states of approximately Rs 3.5 crore in 2023.
The Modus Operandi of the Fake Job Racket
According to police officials, the gang operated by creating a sophisticated illusion of a government recruitment drive. They floated a sham firm named Gramin Rojgar Kalyan Sansthan (GRKS) and built a fraudulent website, www.grks.org, to project it as a legitimate government organization. The scam, which began as early as 2020, involved publishing fake advertisements in regional newspapers across 10 states, including Odisha.
The advertisements, designed to closely mimic official government notifications, lured unemployed youth with promises of positions like district coordinator, block coordinator, computer operator, and block surveyor. They prescribed qualifications and offered attractive remuneration packages to appear authentic. Applicants were directed to apply online by paying a nominal fee—Rs 170 for SC/ST candidates and Rs 320 for general category aspirants.
Nationwide Deception and Financial Misappropriation
Dilip Tripathy, SP of EOW, stated that lakhs of unemployed youths from across the country applied for these non-existent posts from 2020 onwards. Although the gang conducted examinations to maintain the facade, no appointments were ever made. The entire operation was a scheme to misappropriate the application fees collected from hopeful candidates.
Investigations revealed that the gang successfully misappropriated a total of Rs 3.48 crore in application fees. Gautam Kumar, who had been evading arrest for two years, was finally booked under a non-bailable warrant. He allegedly posed as a skill developer within the racket, claiming he would train new recruits.
Previous Arrests and Money Trail
This is not the first breakthrough in the case. In 2023, the EOW had already arrested three of Kumar's associates—Dharampal Singh, Amit Singh, and Jairam Tiwari, all from Bihar. A formal cheating case was registered against the gang on January 25, 2023, following complaints about the fake advertisements.
Further probe into the financial trail uncovered that Gautam Kumar received Rs 69.2 lakh from the GRKS account. This money was funneled through the bank accounts of his two private companies and a trust. Kumar, who was employed with a private company in Delhi, used this network to launder and siphon off the illicit funds. The EOW is continuing its investigation to trace the full extent of the network and recover the defrauded money.
