15-07-2025
Woman arrested for duping five job-seekers of Rs 62.5 lakh
Berhampur: A 32-year-old woman from Bhubaneswar was arrested on Monday for alleged involvement in duping job-seekers with fake promises of railway jobs, police said on Tuesday.
The accused, Subhalaxmi Rout, allegedly posed as a travelling ticket examiner (TTE) and collected Rs 62.50 lakh from five job-seekers. She is reportedly involved in at least three other criminal cases. A special police team seized two bank passbooks from her possession during the arrest.
On Friday, police had arrested Bighneswar Rao Dora (50) of Kukudakhandi, another member of the racket. "Some other people are also involved in the fake job racket.
We have identified them and are trying to arrest them," said SP Saravana Vivek M.
According to the preliminary investigation, on March 18, 2023, the job-seekers met Dora at Digapahandi, where he allegedly assured them of railway jobs, claiming to be well-connected with senior officials. He demanded money from each candidate and later took them to Bhubaneswar, introducing them to Rout and another person.
The victims were shown fake joining and posting letters and taken to Kolkata by train for medical tests at Sealdah. In the following weeks, they received various fake appointment letters through email. When they suspected foul play, they failed to reach the accused by phone and later confronted them in Kolkata, but the racketeers allegedly pressured them to bring in more unemployed people and collect money from them.
One of the victims eventually lodged an FIR at Berhampur Sadar police station on July 10.
