Kolkata: Job racket cuffs on ex-constable – Times of India

Kolkata: The anti-rowdy section of the detective department has nabbed a gang of four — including a former Kolkata Police constable — who was running a “police recruitment centre” in a hotel at Chandni Chowk and passed it off as the DSP office from where they issued fake appointment letters in the name of Bengal Police and the Kolkata Police. The accused even supplied khaki beret cap and belt to pass the letters as original. The gang had cheated several youths during the Covid period of Rs 35 lakh.
The accused have been identified as Rabi Murmu (40), Masud Rana (24), Subhro Nag Roy (44) and Paritosh Barman (50). A resident of Gazole in Malda, Murmu has been identified as the former Kolkata Police constable who was suspended in 2011 for indulging in fraud practices. Rana hails from Ranitala in Murshidabad, Roy from Gaighata and Barman from Pingla in Midnapore.
“We are ascertaining how this group was formed in the first place,” said an officer. Amongst the accused, Rana had claimed himself to be the DSP of the West Bengal Police Recruitment Board and moved in a car marked as “government of West Bengal”. Barman acted as the linkman between job aspirants and the gang, charging Rs 6.5 lakh from each. Around Rs 1.9 lakh in cash, documents like fake police ID cards in the name of Rana, fake appointment letters, khaki beret caps and belts were seized from them, said joint CP (crime) Murlidhar Sharma.
A case of cheating was recorded at the Bowbazar police station on Thursday soon after the accused were nabbed on the basis of a complaint by one Samaresh Mahato (20), a resident of Salboni in West Midnapur. “The accused brought the aspirants to Kolkata to hand over their fake appointment letters. The gang told the victims that they will be sent for training to Halishahar. When days passed and they were not asked to report there, the victims decided to approach the police,” claimed a source.