Two Booked for Duping Youths of ₹22.5 Lakh on Pretext of Army Jobs

Pimpri-Chinchwad Police Smash Job Scam Racket Making False Army Job Offers

Pimpri-Chinchwad,  — Pimpri-Chinchwad police registered a case against two people charged with cheating four young men out of ₹22.5 lakh on the assurance of getting a job in the Indian Army. The racketeer happened at Triveni Nagar at Talwade from February 2019 through September 2022 and the case was officially registered on Monday.

The accused, Santosh Shankar Thakur, 40, of Bhagyoday Residency, Ravet, and Bajirao Sakharam Patil, 45, who lives in Nighoje, are suspected to have masterminded the scam by posing as top Army officials and using their contacts to attract victims.

As per police reports, Thakur posed as a high-ranking officer, saying he could ensure direct recruitment into the Indian Army, while Patil used his alleged strong connections within the Army recruitment process to lure candidates. The pair promised speedy and assured recruitment in return for large amounts of money.

The victims, one of whom is a retired auto firm employee, Dattatraya Kokate (65), and his friend Mohan Shinde, got to know the accused through Patil, who had introduced them to Thakur. On their later interactions, Thakur discovered that Kokate’s daughter-in-law, her brother Amol, Kokate’s nephew Rohit, and Shinde’s son Vishal were also looking for jobs in the Army. Thakur assured them of getting them hired through his “contacts.”

Believing these assurances, Kokate and Shinde paid ₹17 lakh and ₹5.5 lakh, respectively, in cash to Patil. In 2022, the accused also gave fake interview letters to the victims, once again tricking them into believing that the recruitment process was started.
The scam was discovered when the victims found that no recruitment process had occurred and the accused started evading their calls. The victims finally found out they were cheated when there was no official recruitment and interviews, so they lodged a police complaint.

Navnath Mote, assistant police inspector of Chikhali police station, said, “Thakur offered fake call and interview letters. The victims understood they had been duped and filed a complaint.” Police authorities also added that more victims may emerge as probe further gets tough and suspect more suspected broad network could be running the racket.

The accused have now been charged with multiple sections of the Indian Penal Code, including 419 (cheating by personation), 420 (cheating and dishonestly inducing delivery of property), 406 (criminal breach of trust), 465, 467, 468, and 34 (acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention). No arrests have been made as yet, police stated, with investigations in progress.

This case alerts against the need for vigilance among job seekers lest they be victims of such frauds and highlights the importance of genuine verification of employment details through official channels.