HYDERABAD: Irony as it may be, 33-year-old Naik V Ramanjaneyulu of Golconda Artillery Centre, who was caught along with six others in a job scam Saturday, had distributed job applications to aspirants, title of which read- "impersonators beware... You will be caught".
Even as city police commissioner Anjani Kumar clarified involvement of no senior Army officials in the scam, the accused had managed to expand his network to states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Rajasthan, apart from the two Telugu states, where he lured aspirants with jobs in Indian Army, Indian Airforce and even software giants like Cognizant.
An eighteen-year-old Awaresh Kumar, a native of Firozabad, Uttar Pradesh told Express that he applied for a job in Indian Airforce on April 24.
"At the time of applying for the suitable post in Indian Airforce, I paid Rs 1 lakh to the Naik Ramanjaneyulu who promised me a job. I am still waiting for response from the Naik. Yesterday, I called him but the mobile phone was switched off,'' said Awaresh Kumar.
In a fake call letter to one of the aspirants, Mahajan Yogesh Pandurang of Maharashtra, (a copy of which is with TNIE), the accused stated that the candidate is required to report at Army training center, Wellington, Ooty on April 28. He also told the candidate that Army staff would be at the training center to assist the candidates.
Accused wanted to invest money in counterfeit currency:
The Accused has collected Rs 25 lakh from 25 candidates on pretext of providing jobs and wanted to invest in procuring counterfeit currency to circulate in the city. The accused made a deal with a Thane-based gang member to procure Rs 1 crore counterfeit currency by paying Rs 25 lakh original notes.
"After the accused went to Thane, the gangsters assaulted the accused and snatched bag containing Rs 25 lakh. Two military soldiers Mahesh Rathor and Avdhesh Kumar who are working in 297 Medium Regiment Meerut came in to contact with Ramanjaneyulu who assured them to appoint their candidates in Indian Army without examination and demanded amount from them. Believing his version and they send 25 candidates in April 2018,'' police said.
This money they invested in counterfeit currency and was promised Rs 1 crore fake notes in return by the Thane-based gang. However, they collected the cash and went absconding. Posing as policemen, Ramanjaneyulu and others brought the absconding Thane gang to Hyderabad, and in the meantime, they were traced and arrested by Hyderabad police.
When the city police kept a close vigil on movements of gang members indulged in fake currency activities, the issue of Army jobs fraud came to light. Based on the information, the police arrested the accused.