TURA: Two youths from South Garo Hills who had gone to Guwahati in search of a job based on an advertisement in a local paper were cheated of over Rs.50,000 by a man masquerading as an employer of a security firm.
The two youths – Arun M Marak and Nobin Tenny D Sangma – both from Balsri Ading, Baghmara in South Garo Hills had boarded a bus bound for Guwahati to meet their potential employer after contacting him on a phone number given in an advertisement in a local newspaper for recruitment of security guards. The ad with a promised salary of Rs.11,500 per month was given out on January 12 along with a contact number 09085180708.
Upon reaching their destination, the duo met the fraudster who asked them to deposit Rs.5000 each for train tickets and put them on a train after giving them platform tickets. The fraudster also took into his possession the Rs.50,000 they had between them after telling them that they risked arrest by the army for carrying large amounts of cash with them.
When the duo protested on being given mere platform tickets and questioned why he was not travelling with them, the man pretended to board the train only to jump out as it began to leave the station. Seeing the man jumping out and running away the duo also got off the train and began looking for the man but could find no trace of him.
The incident was later reported to the police in Guwahati who refused to take any kind of action and instead reprimanded them for blindly falling victim to the fraudster.
The duo later also tried calling up the man on his mobile number only to be threatened with dire consequences.
“We called him up hoping to get back our money but were instead threatened. He said that he would chop us up into little pieces and feed them to his dog,” the victims said later.
It may be mentioned that many people especially from rural areas all over the State have fallen victims to such fraudsters in the recent past. Concerned authorities had also issued several notices not to be lured in by such promises of job opportunities especially if it involved the payment of large amounts of money.
With such cases of duping occurring on a daily basis people have been advised to verify the authenticity of such job offers before paying large amounts in cash.
