Bhopal:
When Prabha Sharma walked up to random people on the streets of Bhopal and asked them for Rs. 2 lakh, some found her hard to refuse. She said that as Mamata Banerjee's Personal Assistant, she could offer attractive jobs in the Railways. Ten people paid up in just the last week.
Radheshyam Yadav, a college graduate who works as an assistant in a shoe shop, paid Sharma a first installment of Rs 20,000. But when Sharma showed no interest in either his resume or college certificates, he contacted the police. "I have sold my wife's jewelry to pay her...I need that money back," he says.
Sharma, aged 45, was staying at a popular hotel in the Maharana Pratap Nagar area. She was tracked down by the police and arrested on Friday. She isn't (nor ever has been ) in contact with Railways Minister Mamata Banerjee.
The police believe that she could be a part of a bigger racket.