Lagatar24 Desk
Kupwara, Sept 5: Police claimed to have exposed a bogus and fake recruitment scam in the military engineering service in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kupwara district after apprehending five persons.
According to a statement, the gang defrauded about eight innocent unemployed youths from North Kashmir of Rs 25 lakhs.
“Substantial evidence, including counterfeit appointment letters, gate passes, laptops, desktops, printers, and cellphones, have been seized from the possession of the accused,” read Kupwara Police statement.
More arrests in relation to the case are anticipated, police stated.
In a statement released on Tuesday, the Kupwara Police said that on September 1, a complainant alleged that his son had been the victim of a recruiting scam run by Nazir Ahmad Khan, a resident of Doolipora Trehgam.
According to the statement, the complainant further alleged that his son had been conned out of Rs 70,000 on the false pretence of gaining a job with the Military Engineering Service (MES), along with a fake appointment letter.
On the basis of the complaint, police started an investigation and filed a First Information Report (FIR).
Key witnesses’ statements were recorded during the investigation, and fake appointment letters were seized as proof.
“Nazir Ahmad Khan was subsequently apprehended in connection with the scam. Further revelations unfolded as the accused disclosed his affiliation with a group of scammers employing a distinctive modus operandi to defraud unemployed youths eagerly seeking positions within MES. Additionally, he divulged the identities of his four collaborators as Zahoor Ahmad Mir, resident of Rawathpora, Shakeel Ahmad Makroo, resident of Awantipora, Feroz Ahmad Khashu, resident of Shaltang, Srinagar and Shafkat Ahmad Shah, resident of Pampore, Pulwama,” the statement further stated.
A special police team apprehended all four individuals. “Notably, Shakeel Ahmad Makroo emerged as the mastermind, operating under the alias ‘Raju,’ presenting himself as an influential Kashmiri Pandit and an MES officer stationed at Rangreth Srinagar”.
“He enlisted the assistance of Mir, Khashu, and Khan as field agents, entrusted with the task of extracting money from unsuspecting job seekers, promising them MES positions. Shah, the technical expert of the operation, was responsible for fabricating and printing counterfeit appointment letters and other documentation. He operated from the ‘Helpline advertising agency’ in Rangreth Srinagar, where he manufactured these fraudulent documents,” the police statement added.
