RAJKOT: A software engineer wanted in 2003 Rs 39 lakh cheating case was arrested from Pune after 18 years by the Rajkot crime branch on Thursday. The accused Jayesh Parekh (40) had allegedly cheated scores of people giving them data entry work after collecting deposit money and not paying them for the work done.
Parekh was found working in a multi-national software firm in Pune, where he had forged papers to hide his original identity. Crime branch sub-inspector M V Rabari said that though Parekh had retained his name, he had changed all other identity documents to show that he was local from Pune city. He said that Parekh was caught using human and technical intelligence after getting specific leads of his whereabouts.
According to police, in 2003 Parekh had offered bulk data entry work to people and collected deposit money from them. He used to tell people that he had several contacts from where he got the bulk of data entry work. However, he did not pay the people for the data entry work.
The scam came to light when one of the victims, Vimal Chauhan lodged a complaint against Parekh and his partner Sanjay Kothari in 2003 in Rajkot. Parekh had taken Rs 8.22 lakh as a deposit from Chauhan after signing a contract promising him bulk data entry work.
Besides Chauhan, eight other persons also approached the police alleging that Parekh and Kothari had duped them of Rs Rs 39 lakh. After police jumped into action, Kothari was arrested, but Parekh managed to escape and remain untraceable. Both Parekh and Kothari were booked for criminal breach of trust and cheating.
According to Rabari, Parekh first went to Pune and worked there for six months before going to Delhi. He returned to Pune a year later. “Parekh is a software engineer. He got a job in an IT firm and got settled in Pune. In order to hide his identity, he forged documents like Aadhaar card, election card, driving licence with the address proof of his office. He also opened a new bank account using his office ID card.”