A man has been arrested here for allegedly posing as a Member of Parliament and cheating several persons including job aspirants, company owners and aspiring politicians, of crores of rupees.
Accused Praveen Kumar Singh, a resident of Uttam Nagar, was nabbed by a team of Crime Branch, after arriving in Delhi from Kolkata, at the security check gate of the IGI Airport, Joint Commissioner (Crime) of Police, Ravindra Yadav said.
"The bank accounts of Singh with transactions running into crores of rupees are being verified. The role of his family members in holding properties is being probed. Several local leaders of different political parties who were on his pay roll are also being questioned," the officer said.
Singh wore khadi dress while posing as an MP and allegedly duped several persons promising them government jobs. He also cheated proprietors of several companies assuring them of granting business contracts.
During interrogation, it also transpired that he had cheated aspiring politicians with promises of prominent posts in different parties, he said.
Crime Branch got the wind of Praveen after a complaint against him was lodged by a Ballia resident Harsh Dev Tiwari.
In his complaint Tiwari alleged that a railway clerk Raj Kumar posted at Mughal Sarai station had promised to get him a D Group job in the railways through his contact whom he claimed to be a "close relative" of a former railway minister, he said.
Raj Kumar allegedly accompanied Tiwari to a 'meeting' with Singh at Baroda House here, where he paid Rs 2.5 lakh for the job in the railways.
Tiwari also alleged in his complaint that his 9 relatives also paid Rs 2.5 lakh each to the accused for jobs. They were allegedly given 'medical examination letters' of Railway Recruitment Board but when they reached Kolkata they found it to be fake.
Another complainant Riyazuddin, a resident of Maujpur, too alleged that he was cheated of Rs 8 lakh by Singh who promised jobs of TTE to him and his wife, the officer said.
In 2014, he had cheated 10 unemployed youth in Ballia to the tune of Rs 25 lakh on the pretext of getting them Group D jobs in the railways, he said.
Police recovered 77 blank letterheads of a Lok Sabha MP as well as biodata of 28 job aspirants from him, besides seven mobile phones, five credit/debit cards and two dozen branded watches, he said.
