From Biplab Kr Dey
WILLIAMNAGAR, Sep 12: A Delhi-based con man, who defrauded over 300 unsuspecting job seekers from Garo Hills involving Rs 38 lakh, has landed up in police net.
Taking the lid off the sensational “job scam” police has arrested the master mind from New Delhi.
Identified as Hemant Kumar Pradhan, a resident of Delhi, he had scammed more than 300 residents of East Garo Hills by luring them with jobs in return for money.
According to the complainants, Pradhan had contacted an NGO, comprising members of the Church and activists who are senior citizens, last year for the implementation of education awareness programmes in Garo Hills under “Shikshya Barta New Delhi” for 15 years.
The accused, through his supposed education and media company, offered to provide jobs to over 300 people from across Garo Hills. He said he had financers to back his plan. The idea, according to the complainants, was just what Garo Hills needed to bridge the gap in education.
“We were excited at the opportunity as it would have helped bridge the education gap and also provide employment to so many people across Garo Hills. Through our NGO ‘District Socio Economic Development Organisation’ (DSEDO), we have been making such contributions to our society and did not want to pass up such an opportunity,” James Thuimai, secretary of the NGO, said.
So, the NGO began email communication with Pradhan who urged them to gather the people and resources to “revolutionise” education in the region.
“We were sent details of various posts which included 275 field workers and 28 administrative staff, all of whom were to be paid between Rs 5,000-13,000 per month. This also included a yearly bonus along with Rs 2 lakh insurance. They were, however, to pay a training/security charge of Rs 15,540,” the NGO said.
Accordingly, the NGO rolled out ads seeking people interested in these jobs and soon, it received a huge number of applications along with the money for training. To continue their works, a franchise for a programme titled “My home, my School” of Rs 90,000 was deposited into the account of the company owned by Pradhan.
To gain trust, the accused even made employment free for over 50 BPL households.
“To allay any fears, Pradhan came to visit us in Williamnagar and showed us all his documents after we tried to verify the status of his company. He, however, never took us on a video call. Our recruitment process took about six months and we asked him to come to the inauguration of the offices in Williamnagar on March 30 this year,” said a member of the NGO.
The groundwork by the 275 employees of the Shikshya Barta (SB) saw more than 2,000 children register for the programme. Some of them had no access to schooling as their parents could not afford it.
After completing the recruitment process, the Williamnagar chapter of SB termed “Zonal Education Media Office” (ZEMO) was inaugurated by not one but two ministers of the present government. Needless to say, they too were not aware that Pradhan was actually running a scam.
In fact, during the inauguration of ZEMO, the two ministers had even commended the initiative stating that if implemented properly, it could change the face of education in the entire Garo Hills region as the programme targeted all five districts. “The concept that was provided was extremely good and we felt this could be a game changer not only in terms of employment but also in revolutionising education. Our offices began functioning after the inauguration with all those employed by us going about their respective jobs. Pradhan, however, refused to attend, citing prior commitments while urging us to continue functioning,” Thuimai said.
A legal agreement between DSEDO and SB was duly signed between the two parties prior to ZEMO launching a full-fledged recruitment drive.
It is only after ZEMO began functioning for over two months that the entire scam began to unravel as no salary was paid to those employed by ZEMO. Pradhan also began to avoid their calls altogether.
Two months turned into four months and with no money coming in to pay the employees, a complaint was lodged on July 7 with the Williamnagar police station in East Garo Hills. An investigation by the police followed.
“We had done everything in good faith but it seems the only thought of Pradhan was to cheat us. SB claimed to have registered themselves under Registrar of Newspaper, Ministry of Information and Broadcasting bearing registration number RNI No.DELMUL/2012/44784,” Thuimai said.
According to the FIR, Rs 35,89,740 was paid to Pradhan as membership fees. The employees made to work have not been paid till date. The FIR added that Pradhan meticulously took advantage of the innocent individuals on the pretext of promising them employment prospects.
He had also asked all those employed to deposit another Rs 1,000 per head to link their accounts in New Delhi for disbursement of salaries.
A criminal case was registered with the Williamnagar police station under sections 403, 406, 420, 467, 468 and 471 of IPC.
Pradhan had been on the run since the past two months until falling in the police net.
“The accused person has been apprehended from the jurisdiction of Amor Colony PS, New Delhi on September 8 and brought back to Williamnagar after his arrest. The matter is currently under investigation,” SP in-charge, Shailendra Bamaniya said.