Nilesh Rathod, arrested by the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Mumbai Police in a job fraud case on Friday, was dismissed from Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) in 2021 as a constable after the department found transactions of over a crore in his salary account. According to police officers, Rathod then allegedly started posing himself as a senior officer of Staff Selection Commission (SSC) and cheated hundreds of job aspirants by promising them jobs in government departments across Maharashtra and used the ill-gotten money to produce Marathi films. During investigation, the police learnt that the money which Rathod earned by defrauding people in fake job promises have been invested in producing Marathi movies and buying properties, said a police officer who is part of the probe. The Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of the Mumbai police arrested Rathod from Delhi on Friday for allegedly duping over 50 job aspirants to the tune of Rs 10.5 crore. His victims are from Dhule, Jalgaon, Satara, Nanded, Nashik, Solapur, Navi Mumbai, Thane and Mumbai. According to the police, Rathod is a native of Barshi Takli Taluka in Akola district and joined CISF in 2012 as a constable and once the department found more than one crore transactions in his salary account, he was suspended from the department in 2020. After inquiry, he was reportedly dismissed from the service in 2021, said a police officer. During lockdown, the accused started approaching people posing as a deputy secretary with the Staff Selection Commission (SSC). Rathod allegedly promised jobs to aspirants in various departments including Income Tax and Armed Forces and took Rs 4 lakh to Rs 10 lakh from each aspirant in instalments, added the official. The accused used to meet victims in a five-star hotel in the western suburbs in Mumbai and collect money from them. He even gave forged appointment letters to the victims and promised them joining letters also. People realised that they were duped when they started asking about joining letters and the accused started avoiding them, added the official. There were several FIRs registered against him across Maharashtra, including one of the FIRs registered against Rathod at Sahar police station in Mumbai last month which was transferred to the EOW. According to police, the complainant, Santosh Kharpude, a resident of Navi Mumbai, who was looking for a job for his niece, had paid Rs 4 lakh to the accused for a government job. He was wanted in the case and police arrested him from Delhi and he was brought to Mumbai in four days’ transit remand. He was produced in the court on Saturday and remanded in police custody till October 14.
