Cheating and defrauding has been the old art of vandals. They invent new ways and means of thuggery. This has been the practice of uneducated and illiterate people in olden days. But one is surprised and rather sad to know that in modern times when opportunities for self-employment are provided by the Government and society in a fairly large number, the educated youth should be lured to indulge in the black art of deception. A case of rank thuggery has come to light with the police in Nowabad arresting three persons and sealing their office in a case of issuing fake job letters. They had invented a novel way of duping the youth.
As many as 14 people are alleged to be involved in this job racket of whom three have been nabbed by the police of the locality when they received complaints from a number of people who have been cheated. An organization under the banner of J&K Rural Development Coordination Society was incepted by the alleged criminals in Gole Pule in the heart of Jammu city. They put up an advertisement in local newspapers that the society would be filling 1500 vacancies and that eligible people can apply on a proper form which was available from their office by depositing a sum of 2000 rupees in J&K Bank Nowabad, Talab Tiloo. Unemployed youth in dire need of employment somewhere and somehow did not check up properly whether the advertisement was fake or genuine one. Instead they rushed to deposit the money in J&K Bank, obtain a form that was faked, filled it and received appointment letters that were faked in the said department but not the salary etc. When the police sealed their forged documents and bank account, a sum of 30 lakh was found credited to their name in the bank. On not being paid salary by the said company, applicants lodged complaints with the police that swung into action busting the racket, arresting three accomplices, sealing their office and freezing their account. Obviously the police will file FIR against them; a case will be made out for their legal prosecution.
There are a few questions that need to be answered. Where was the State Rural Development Department when the ad for 1500 jobs in the department was given in local papers? Why did not anybody in the department raise the matter with the authorities and point out the fake advertisement? Is it not strange that an open ad calls for applications for a particular department of the Government and the head of the department does not care to know the source of the ad and all matters pertaining to it? This needs to be enquired into. One cannot rule out the possibility of connivance of insiders at the racket. The second question is this: Did the Talab Tiloo Branch of J&K Bank verify and make itself satisfied that a society under the name of J&K Rural Development Coordination Society desirous of opening a fresh account in the bank was genuine? What evidence or documents etc. did it ask for to accept their application for opening an account? Did the bank verify the addresses and identities of the persons who applied for opening the account on behalf of the society? Who were the account holders in the said branch that certified the identity of the applicants and will they be called in by the police for interrogation? After all they must have known that it was a racket and not a genuine organization opening fresh account. Since two of the arrested persons hail from the valley, the police will have to investigate their antecedents back in their home town/village and it is possible they might have other cases also in which their involvement can be traced. Others who are also to be interrogated are the owners of the building who rented it to the criminals for establishing a fake office and business. How did they let out the premises without verifying the credentials of the company that was going to set up its office there? On the face of it, one feels this is a widespread racket in which many more people of various descriptions are involved. The police should be allowed full freedom of conducting investigation into the matter and find out if there are other fake companies, societies etc. working in clandestine manner. It has also to be found out whether this society was registered or not with the office of Registrar Civil Societies. If it is registered, did they verify the antecedents of the company and its managers? All these matters need thorough investigation so that the youth of the country are not misled by miscreants.
In conclusion we will again say that the issue of unemployment among the educated youth is a big and volatile issue and must be solved. The manner in which the vandals and thugs managed to extract money from scores of job seeking youth clearly indicates that unemployment is a curse which drags the youth away from right path. It is a matter of livelihood and sustenance and we are reminded of the great saying of Dr. S. Radhakrishnan that “a hungry man has no religion”. Let not the hungry men become thugs.
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