BENGALURU: A team leader at a BPO in Bengaluru was conned of Rs 8.3 lakh by fraudsters who took the money from him citing various ‘bribes’ to be paid in order to get him a clerical job in the Railways. It was only when the victim, D Bhushan Singh, landed at KSR Railway Station with the “appointment order,” that he realised he had been duped. Singh withdrew funds his late father had left for him as well as his Provident Fund savings and borrowed money for the last four months to pay the sum.

Singh had applied online for the post of Upper Division Clerk in the Railways in May. Within a couple of days, Singh got a call from one Anurag Chowdhury from New Delhi, who told him that he had to cough up Rs 1.5 lakh to get the job in the form of instalments and that Chowdhury will facilitate the process.

Speaking to The New Indian Express, Singh said, “I first transferred Rs 10,000 to his bank account. I received an SMS saying my application was being processed. Then, he asked me to pay Rs 15,000 for a fitness medical certificate. I paid the Rs 1.5 lakh demanded in instalments.”

Later, I received an appointment order on June 22 with a seal of the Railway Recruitment Board asking me to report at the Station Manager’s room,” Singh said. He then got a call from another person identifying himself as Rameshwar who further demanded Rs. 8 lakh. Chowdhary however initially feigned ignorance but later said Singh would have to pay Rs 4 lakh minimum, which he did. 

The fraudster managed to take an additional Rs. 1.5 lakh on various pretences and finally took Rs 30,000 by invoking the name of Railway Minister Piyush Goyal before switching off  his cellphone on August 30. Singh now plans to file an FIR at the police station near his residence at Cottonpet. “As the Government Railway Police station personnel at the KSR station were busy on Wednesday, I was unable to register an FIR with them,” Singh added.

Beware, rly job aspirants

A senior railway official cautions railway job aspirants. He said that anyone who wants to be part of the Railway workforce needs to clear exams conducted by the Railway Recruitment Board. There was no shortcut to get through and no top official could help anyone enter in any other manner. Also, every new joinee will have to report to the Personnel department and not to any station master or any railway official.