‘Realistic’ PWD job costs woman ₹13L

MUMBAI: A 34-year-old jobseeker was cheated to the tune of ₹13.48 lakh by five fraudsters, who promised her a job in the Public Works Department (PWD) and other branches of the state government.

To convince the victim of the authenticity of the job opening, the fraudsters took her to the home department in Mantralaya to submit documents, conducted her interview at the Maharashtra Legislative Assembly, and also initiated a medical test at the state-run JJ Hospital.

Acting on the complaint filed by the victim, Pallavi Phulzade, 34, a Dombivli resident, the Bandra

police station has registered a case against the accused Pritam Kanphade, Vihar Ramteke, Mohit Desai, Irfan Sayyad, and his wife Jayda Sayyad. They are booked for cheating, forgery of valuable documents, and criminal conspiracy. According to the complainant, the victim’s sister Rakhi Indurkar introduced her to the accused- Pritam Kanphade, whom she met between August 2021 and April 2022. During these meetings, Kanphade informed Phulzade that he had contacts in the government, and could secure a government job for her if she was ready to pay for the same.

She got a call from Pritam, informing her that there was a vacancy in Mantralaya, but she will have to pay ₹9 lakh to Vihar Ramteke, another accused. “They told her that she will have to pay ₹3 lakh in advance and the remaining ₹6 lakh after receiving the appointment letter. They also gave her an option of getting a refund, if she did not like the job,” said an officer attached to the Bandra police station.

In September 2021, the complainant got a call from the accused named Vihan, who told her that there was a vacancy in the Public Works Department (PWD) and she would have to pay ₹1.5 lakh immediately.

The victim paid money to them several times. However, the men stopped taking her calls, which led to suspicion.