BALURGHAT, May 17 -- Allegations of cheating and a job racket have surfaced against a civic volunteer attached to the office of the Superintendent of Police in South Dinajpur district after several job aspirants accused him of taking money on the promise of arranging civic police jobs.
The accused, identified as Samrat Roy, a resident of A.K. Gopalan Colony in Balurghat, has been suspended following a written complaint lodged at Balurghat Police Station by a youth named Ajay Das. Police have also initiated a departmental inquiry into the matter.
According to the complaint, Roy allegedly promised Ajay a job as a civic volunteer in exchange for money.
However, despite accepting the amount nearly a year ago, the accused allegedly failed to get him the job and later threatened the complainant when he demanded a refund.
Ajay Das said: "I came into contact with Samrat at his office.
Around a year ago, I handed over the money to him near the Superintendent of Police's office, but I didn't get the job. In December last year, when I demanded a refund, he gave me a cheque which later bounced. After that, he started threatening me and refused to return the money. I remained silent out of fear for long. Finally, I filed a written complaint."
Ajay is reportedly not the only victim. Several other job aspirants have allegedly been cheated in a similar manner. One such aspirant, requesting anonymity, claimed: "The civic volunteer had also taken money from me on the promise of a job. I never got the job, though later I somehow managed to recover my money after considerable effort."
Sources said Roy allegedly exploited his position and frequent interactions with people at the Superintendent of Police's office to gain their trust before offering false assurances of employment in exchange for money.
It is still unclear whether he managed to secure jobs for anyone through such dealings.
Police have now begun an investigation to determine the extent of the alleged fraud and identify other possible victims.
Meanwhile, the district police administration stated that Roy had already been removed from duty at the Superintendent of Police's office ahead of the elections and was performing general duty before his suspension. South Dinajpur Superintendent of Police Chinmay Mittal said: "A complaint has been lodged against the civic volunteer at the police station. Following the complaint, he has been suspended. The matter is being looked into."
Published by HT Digital Content Services with permission from Millennium Post.