Most of the time, a wrong train being displayed on the indicator would lead to exasperated reactions or, maybe, an outraged tweet or Facebook post. But in this case, it led to the lid being blown off a widespread fake recruitment racket in the Indian Railways, and the arrest of three accused, including a Railways staffer. 

According to Government Railway Police (GRP) sources, at around 2 pm on July 9, a commuter at the Seawoods-Darave railway station in Navi Mumbai alerted Ticker Checker Mukesh Kumar Meena about an indicator displaying incorrect information. Meena tried contacting the concerned office to get the error rectified but received no response. 

“When Meena went to the office himself, he was surprised to find out that the announcer on duty for the day, Pradnya Bhopi, was nowhere to be seen. Instead, a man and a woman he had never seen before we sitting in the office. When he tried asking them who they were, the man ran away while the woman was detained and Meena called the Station Master,” an officer with the Vashi GRP officer told mid-day. 

The woman identified herself as Bharti Kumbhare and the man as Vikas Kumar. She told Meena and other senior Railway officials that she had received an email on June 21, supposedly from the Railways, asking her to be present at the Seawoods station. She visited the station on June 24, where Bhopi allegedly asked her to “report for duty” the same day. 

“The email was found to be fraudulent, and that two others had also received similar emails. Several forged letters with the Railways seal as well as ID cards were also recovered from the announcer’s office,” said the officer.

The Vashi GRP filed an FIR on July 18 under sections 465 (forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating) and 471 (using a forged document or record as genuine) under the Indian Penal Code, along with relevant sections of the IT Act 2000. Prima Facie, the police believe that at least 22 ineligible candidates were fooled into thinking they were actually working in Railways jobs, in exchange for lakhs of rupees. 

Also read: Maharashtra: Nalasopara police arrest youth for rape, blackmail of ex-girlfriend

On Saturday, the police arrested Nilesh Narale, 34, a Railways announcer, along with two civilians, Sujit Mallik, 25, a garments stall owner and Dinesh Singh, 35, a driver. Two more are wanted and the police are now making inquires with the duped job seekers as well.

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