Guwahati: A husband-wife duo has been arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Arunachal Pradesh for allegedly running fake job recruitment on social media and duping several job aspirants.
The duo identified as 26-year-old Subhasish Mistri and his wife Mampi Banerjee.
As per reports, both of them are residents of Baranagar, 24 North Parganas district, Barrackpore.
According to Rohit Rajbeer Singh, Superintendent of Police (SP), SIT, the matter came to light after a written complaint was received from Itanagar-based Surjyaditya Banerjee, who claimed that in September he saw an airport job advertisement on Facebook and applied for it.
“He contacted one unknown lady over the phone whose number was flashed in the advertisement and followed the procedure as directed and lastly got cheated by them. The complainant had paid a total amount of Rs 20,775 into their account on various dates through UPI and in return received an appointment letter and various documents from them which were later found to be fake. Hence, a case FIR No 12/22 U/S 420/468/471 IPC R/W Sec 66D IT Act was registered and an investigation was taken up,” the SP added.
The SP described the scam as “well-planned and executed,” adding that a team led by Inspector Padi Nikang and assisted by HC G L Ray, Cts Gautam Barman and C Chakap, and L/Ct Leena Tallong was formed to investigate it, under the supervision of OC SIT N Lali and Dy SP SIT M Basar Kamdak.
“Upon interrogation, it was revealed that the accused formerly used to work in a BPO company in Kolkata dealing with mobile tower installations, and during peer interactions, he got the idea of running a fraudulent campaign for recruitment purposes, in the month of September 2021. He then opened a fake Facebook account in the name of ‘Sunanda Saikia’. He then made one airport job advertisement and after some editing, posted it on Facebook in the month of October-November 2021 mentioning his mobile number for job query purposes. He also browsed YouTube videos, and then after generating information, downloaded two Apps – Letter Template Samples and OKEN Scanner for preparing appointment letters and gate passes,” the SP added.
Moreover, he downloaded signatures and the Arunachal Pradesh Legislative Assembly seal from the internet.
”After some days, many applicants started sending their documents – biodata, PAN Card, and qualification certificates through his WhatsApp number. After that, he asked them to deposit money for uniform fees and logistics,” the SP said added.