ROURKELA: Sundargarh Town police on Monday arrested a 26-year-old youth from Bhubaneswar for allegedly duping job seekers of different districts on the pretext of providing them government jobs.
The accused was identified as Sangram Kumar Behera of Raghunathpur village under Patkura police limits in Kendrapara district.
Police said the accused used to target unemployed persons through various social media platforms. Fake advertisements with logo of the Odisha government were floated on social media platforms claiming job openings in different districts.
Sundargarh SDPO Nirmal Mohapatra said over the last few days, dubious advertisements offering jobs in Sundargarh, Balangir, Sonepur, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur and Bargarh districts were found posted on Facebook and other social media platforms.
Logo of the Odisha government was used to gain faith of job seekers. The victims were lured with fake offers of lucrative pay along with other facilities like free food and accommodation for the posts of data entry operators, security guards and nursing assistants among other things.
Mohapatra said on the instruction of Sundargarh SP Amritpal Singh, a special team launched an investigation and arrested Behera from a rented accommodation in Bhubaneswar. Investigation revealed that Behera was fraudulently collecting Rs 3,500 from each job seeker on the pretext of providing jobs in different government agencies.
The SDPO said so far, around 20 victims of different districts including Sundargarh have come forward and informed police that they were duped. Behera previously worked as a private security guard and subsequently, started staying in Bhubaneswar where he initiated the fraudulent activities.
The accused was produced in court. Further investigation is underway to ascertain involvement of other individuals in the fake job racket, Mohapatra added.