JAMMU, August 10: The crime branch of Jammu and Kashmir police on Tuesday booked an army deserter for fraud and impersonation after he allegedly duped a retired soldier on the pretext of arranging jobs in the Military Engineer Service (MES), a spokesman said.
The case against Deepak Kumar, a deserter from 8th battalion of J&K Light Infantry Regiment, was registered at police station Crime Branch, Jammu following a complaint lodged by ex-soldier Jasbir Singh of Samba, the official said.
Singh alleged that Kumar befriended him through social media after impersonating as Neeraj Kumar, a clerk in the MES unit where he had also served earlier and lured him on the pretext of arranging jobs for his relatives and acquaintances in different trades in the unit against monetary considerations.
“The suspect told him that he was posted in MES Udhampur and there were vacancies in MES and if the complainant wanted any person to be recruited he would help. Accordingly, the complainant deposited the amount in the bank accounts of Kumar on several occasions on his demand,” the spokesman said.
He said as the suspect kept delaying on one or the other pretext, Singh got suspicious and later came to know that Kumar, who had been declared as a deserter in the Army for his criminal activities, duped him by impersonating as Neeraj Kumar.
“On receipt of the complaint, a preliminary verification was initiated and the allegations have been prima facie substantiated against the suspect,” the spokesman said, adding further investigation is on. (Agencies)