Varanasi: STF busts gang involved in extorting huge money from people seeking job in US, Canada

VARANASI: UP special task force cops on Sunday arrested two members of a gang, which is engaged in extorting money from the families of youths getting kidnapped after being misled to get jobs in US and Canada.
This gang targets people from Gujarat, Nepal and Bangladesh. Members of this gang operates from Kolkata, Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh and Nepal apart from Varanasi. Two cases against this gang had been lodged with Phoolpur and Cantt police in Varanasi in 2017 and 2019.
STF said that on getting specific inputs its Varanasi field unit cops raided Ring Road’s underpass on Pandeypur-Azamgarh highway and succeeded in nabbing Rajvir Singh Yadav of Azamgarh and Kapil alias Bhaskar alias Bhatia of New Delhi. A cash reward of Rs 20,000 had also been kept on Yadav by state police.
STF said that on November 22, 2019 this gang had called Tushar V Patel of Ahmedabad in the name of sending US for job. Later, after kidnapping him the gang extorted Rs 20 lakh from his family through hawala and sent back to him to his home by providing a rail ticket on December 3. Patel had lodged a case against the gang with Cantt police. Before it, the gang had extorted Rs 14 lakh from the family of Naresh Chunni Lal Modi of Ahmedabad in same style in 2017 when he had lodged a case with Phoolpur police here.
As this gang had targeted over 35 persons the STF had taken it on its radar. Following the arrest of two and their initial interrogation it came to light that this gang gives advertisements on social media sites to offer jobs especially for the candidates from Gujarat, Nepal and Bangladesh in US and Canada. When some persons fell in their trap the members of this gang take them in confidence by continuing communication for over two months. As the gang asks to pay cash from Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh to it through hawala after the candidates confirms that he has got the job large number of people were becoming assured with their offer.
When any candidate becomes agree he was asked by the members of gang sitting in Kolkata and Mumbai to reach Varanasi. On reaching here they were accommodated in hotels near Cantt railway station or Nadesar area. In the name of boarding flight they were asked to switch off their phones after giving a call to their family.
Officials said that after it the candidate was kidnapped and kept at the places arranged by Yadav. After a day or two messages were forwarded to their family members on the behalf of candidate to pay the promised amount as he had got the job. When the payments were made to the gang through hawala the candidate was left at railway station with journey ticket to return home.