Eight people were arrested from West Bengal's Purba Bardhaman district for allegedly duping thousands of people by promising them government jobs, police said on Wednesday.
At least 3,000 people from across the state were duped of crores of rupees, they said.
A company named ''Future India'' took anything between Rs 55,000 to Rs 1 lakh from candidates, promising them to provide government jobs for the security of highways, police said.
The accused would often show documents on road safety signed by the Prime Minister and the President to the prospective candidates to gain their trust, they said.
Training on road safety would also be conducted at its head office in Birati in the Nimta police station area in the North 24 Parganas district, police said.
On Monday night, eight officials of the organisation gathered at an eatery in Palsit in the Memari police station area to sign agreements with prospective candidates.
On getting to know that they were in the area, people who were duped earlier reached the spot from as far as Hooghly and Paschim Bardhaman districts, police said.
As chaos ensued, police reached the eatery and made the arrests, they said.
A car, Rs 1.10 lakh in cash, two registers, two pendrives, seven mobile phones and a list of those duped were seized from the accused, police said.
Those arrested were identified as Mihir Kumar Das, Ali Hossain, Hasibul Rahman, Abul Basad, Reazul Islam, Ibrahim Sheikh, Shamsul Alam Sheikh and Malay Karmakar. Malay is a resident of Singur in the Hooghly district, while the rest are from different areas in the Murshidabad district, police said.
When produced at the court on Tuesday, Mihir, Malay and Abul were sent to five days in police remand while the rest were sent to judicial custody. The court of the chief judicial magistrate will hear the matter again on July 11.
More people are suspected to be associated with the racket, a senior police officer said.
To make the whole operation convincing, the candidates were even taken to a private hospital in Kolkata for a pre- joining medical check-up, he said. It is being investigated that whether any influential
person is associated with the racket, he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
"Going Easy On Rioters": BJP Doubles Down On Bengal Police After Clashes School Teacher's Body Found In Bengal With Private Part Chopped Off: Cops Top Court To Hear Plea Over Fireball Use Against Elephants In West Bengal Late Flight, Emergency Landing, Stuck For 3 Days: Indian Fliers' Nightmare Putin Responds To Biden's Missile Approval By Changing Nuclear Doctrine BJP Leader Accused Of Distributing Cash, High Drama Before Maharashtra Polls Can't Present Award In MS Subbulakshmi's Name To TM Krishna: Court SSC Released Exam Dates For CGL Tier-II, GD Constable, And Stenographer Skill Test Here's How Long Hours Of Sitting Affects Your Health Track Latest News Live on NDTV.com and get news updates from India and around the world.