Fake job racket busted

MUMBAI, Dec 29: The Bajarpeth police in Kalyan today arrested a man accused of selling bogus appointment letters for lower level jobs in the...

MUMBAI, Dec 29: The Bajarpeth police in Kalyan today arrested a man accused of selling bogus appointment letters for lower level jobs in the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation. Police detained Vishnu Madhukar Shinde and seized fake letterheads and rubber stamps of Kalyan’s deputy mayor Uday Samel and deputy municipal commissioner (PWD) P Jagdale.

Nearly five months ago, Shinde prepared a letterhead of the senior civic official by using two receipts of land and water tax of the Kalyan Dombivli Municipal Corporation (KDMC). Once the stamps were ready, he lured youth, claiming that he would find them permanent jobs with KDMC as security guards and clerks in the Public Works Department.

“Shinde demanded Rs 15,000 for helping us get jobs,” said one of his victims, Jayant Saryekar. “We thought he was playing fair when he offered to take only Rs 5,000 as down payment and the balance in monthly instalments of Rs 1,000 after we had got our posts. There were five others with me who paid him.” Letters were offered to youth with forged signatures of both Samel and Jagdale. A copy of the letter given to Saryekar reads: “You’re being appointed as a clerk from December 12, 1997 with immediate effect.” There’s also a handwritten order by the deputy mayor to the commissioner asking him to do the needful.

“This shows how badly informed the accused was in basic civics,” Samel said. “Can you imagine an elected representative ordering an IAS officer?”

According to him, he got to know of the fraud when he was approached by Saryekar. “I immediately informed the Bazarpeth police station and requested them to secretly investigate whether any of my own staff were involved,” Samel said. The Bazarpeth police raided Shinde’s residence and found forged papers. According to PSI Chandrakant Jadhav, Shinde alias Nandu is a history sheeter and was jailed.

Shinde seemed unrepentant. About his arrest, he said, “I got unlucky.” He denied being involved in any case earlier. “I have lived as respectably as all these cops here,” he said.

The total number of youth duped by Shinde has not yet been ascertained by the police.