A 38-year-old tout has been apprehended by the Chandipur police on the charge of cheating and committing forgery. The accused is Bodhiswata Parida alias Tuan, a native of Niali of Cuttack district currently residing at laxmisagar in Bhubaneswar.
He had brought a group of young people to Chandipur on the pretext that they had got jobs in the PXE (Proof and Experimental Establishment) through his channel.
The group of eight was rounded up by police when they were found loitering around saying that they had got jobs in the PXE as technical assistants through Parida and had come for familiarisation with the Chandipur area.
Police too found that three of them possessed PXE identity cards, which were later found to be fake after verification by the PXE authorities.
During interrogation, it was learnt that these young men are diploma qualified, and Parida had issued identity cards to four of them. Parida had taken Rs2 lakh from each of them in advance for jobs and would further have taken another Rs2 lakh following their getting jobs. Although he issued identity cards to them yet he had failed to issue any appointment letters. Parida, during interrogation, said a retired captain, Abhay Barik, a resident of Choudwar, is also involved with him in the crime.
A total of 10 people, including Parida and the eight so-called appointed persons and father of a jobseeker, had come from Bhubaneswar on Tuesday by two SUVs. Towards evening they were spotted in the restricted Defence areas.
“Parida has confessed to the crime and said he had taken Rs 2 lakh each from 22 persons, including these eight candidates. He got the identity cards prepared. As per his version, a retired captain is the mastermind of the racket. However, we are yet to verify the truth in his statement and role of the captain. There could be more arrests,” said Chandipur police station IIC Rajendra Das
He added that the accused have been booked under sections of cheating and forgery of IPC.