18 men rescued in Kolkata as police bust interstate job racket

Police said the rescued youths hailed from Punjab and Haryana, aged between 19 and 25. The alleged gang extorted lakhs of rupees from parents of these youths on the pretext of providing them jobs in the US, they added.

The Bidhannagar police on Sunday rescued 18 youths and busted an inter-state fake job and abduction racket near Kolkata, officials said.

The Bidhannagar police on Sunday rescued 18 youths and busted an inter-state fake job and abduction racket near Kolkata. (Representative use)

Police said the rescued youths hailed from Punjab and Haryana, aged between 19 and 25. The alleged gang extorted lakhs of rupees from parents of these youths on the pretext of providing them jobs in the US, they added.

Officials close to developments said the racket was unearthed after three people were arrested in connection with a missing complaint filed by Naresh Kumar, a resident of Panipat in Haryana.

Kumar, on September 16, approached the Bidhannagar police complaining that his son Rohit boarded a flight from Delhi towards Kolkata on August 28 after being promised a job in the US but went missing shortly after that.

“The youths were promised jobs in the US and brought to Kolkata. They were lodged in two hotels for the first few days and then taken to a flat. Everything went fine till the time they were in the hotels. The youths were told that their documents were being processed. Once they reached the flat, they were threatened, their phones snatched, and they were confined. From the slang the abductors used while threatening, the youths could say that they were all from Haryana, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh,” said an officer.

While initially resisting a written complaint, Kumar formally filed a missing report with the airport police station through an email.

“Investigation into the missing case of Rohit led to the arrest of three people. We tracked Rohit’s mobile tower locations and came to know that he had been to Kolkata and was near the airport. He, however, never boarded any US-bound flight. Kumar used to get calls from a US-based number which led us to believe the racketeers probably tried to create a false ambience to show that his son was in the US and was trying to contact him,” a police officer said, adding, “The three accused have been charged under sections 353a (kidnapping for ransom) and 420 (cheating) of the Indian penal Code.”

Explaining the racket, police said Kumar, who had paid ₹40 lakhs to the gang, received multiple calls on his mobile phone from US-based numbers demanding another ₹35 lakhs.

He was, however, not allowed to speak to his son directly. A video message in which Rohit was purportedly seen saying that he was in the US and was doing fine was sent to Kumar to convince him.

“While eight rescued youths were sent back home on Sunday as they were mentally distressed, the rest were being questioned to bust the entire racket. We believe the gang intended to cheat the families and release the youths,” said an official.