Woman among 2 arrested for duping people into paying for railway job: Goa Police
Priya Yadav and Rohan Venji were tracked down to Kolhapur in Maharashtra where they had been allegedly hiding for two months, police said
PANAJI: Two persons including a woman who allegedly duped people into paying her lakhs of rupees to secure government jobs have been arrested, the Goa police said on Monday.
Police identified the two suspects as Priya Yadav and her accomplice Rohan Venji on the complaint of a Belagavi woman in neighbouring Karnataka, Laxmi Dalawai, who alleged that Yadav and Venji duped her of cash and gold worth ₹20.70 lakh promising her a job in the railways.
Yadav and Venji were picked up for questioning from Kolhapur in Maharashtra on Monday.
“Priya Ajay Yadav was traced to Phulewadi Kolhapur Maharashtra where she had been hiding for almost two months and brought to this police station and placed under arrest in this crime,” North Goa superintendent of police Akshat Kaushal said.
Yadav was produced before a magistrate who remanded her in police custody for seven days.
In her complaint, Dalawai alleged that she paid the money in instalments between June and July this year after she was promised a job in the railways.
“The accused Priya Yadav mortgaged gold ornaments of the victims and availed gold loans. Further, gold ornaments weighing about 116gm worth ₹9 lakh were attached for further investigation. Investigation revealed that accused Priya Yadav had duped many residents of Bicholim to the tune of more than ₹1 crore on the pretext of getting them jobs or approval to set up shops in the railways,” Kaushal added.
Yadav is the second key accused to be arrested in a series of duping cases registered in Goa.
Last week, a local resident Pooja Naik was arrested for her alleged involvement in several cases of duping job aspirants.
Goa chief minister Pramod Sawant has urged the other victims of the accused to come forward with complaints if they had been similarly duped.
“No one will be spared. The Home Department is taking the issue seriously. Many are afraid to come forward with complaints. No one should be afraid, but should come forward with complaints,” Sawant said on Monday.