The Mumbai Police busted a fake job racket after arresting a key accused and his aide from West Bengal for their alleged involvement in duping hundreds of unemployed men by promising them jobs abroad.
An official on Wednesday said the police recovered 482 passports of job aspirants during a search at the key accused's residence, taking the number of such travel documents seized so far to 544.
The key accused, Patit Paban Punin Haldar (36), a resident of North 24 Parganas in West Bengal, and his aide Mohammed Illiyas Shaikh Mansoori (49), a native of Kamarhati were arrested by the Mumbai police's crime branch. So far, the police arrested seven accused in the case.
The Crime Branch laid a trap in West Bengal after it received specific information about the fake job racket. The Crime Branch officials visited Bengal and arrested the duo recovering 482 passports of job aspirants from Haldar's residence.
The accused persons had opened offices in the name of a placement agency at CSMT in South Mumbai and suburban Andheri and duped hundreds of unemployed men by offering them jobs abroad, he said.
They had issued fraudulent offer letters and bogus visas to the job aspirants and disappeared after collecting money, leaving the victims in the lurch, said the official.
The police launched an investigation and arrested the accused, seven so far, after an offence was registered at the Mata Ramabai Ambedkar Marg Police Station.
(With PTI inputs)
