The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday carried out nationwide search operations targeting an organized gang accused of organizing a fake job racket in the government that allegedly duped aspirants by issuing fake appointment letters to various government departments, ANI reported.
The searches, which began early in the morning, are being carried out in 15 locations across the country.
The Patna Zonal Office of the Emergency Department is leading the operations, covering three locations in Bihar, two in West Bengal, four in Kerala, one each in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, and four in Uttar Pradesh, in close coordination with the respective state police forces.
The places recorded included Muzaffarpur (one) and Motihari (two) in Bihar; Kolkata (two) in West Bengal; one each in Ernakulam, Pandalam, Adoor and Kodur in Kerala; Chennai (one) in Tamil Nadu; Rajkot (one) in Gujarat; and Gorakhpur (two), Prayagraj (one) and Lucknow (one) in Uttar Pradesh.
ANI reported quoting officials that the scam, initially detected in the name of Indian Railways, was later found to have spread to over 40 government organizations and departments, including the Forest Department, Railway Contracting Board (RRB), India Post, Income Tax Department, High Courts, Public Works Department (PWD), Government of Bihar, Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Rajasthan Secretariat, among others.
Officials aware of the case said investigations revealed that the accused used fake email accounts posing as official government domains to issue forged appointments and admission letters.
“To gain trust, they made initial salary payments for two to three months to some victims, who were assigned to positions such as RPF staff, Travel Ticket Examiners (TTE) and technicians in the Indian Railways,” they added.
