Sambalpur: The Burla Police today busted a large-scale fake recruitment racket that duped hundreds of job seekers in western Odisha with false promises of sweeper jobs in government offices. Two persons have been arrested, and cash worth over Rs 62 lakh has been seized in this connection.

The accused have been identified as Padmavati Tandi and Rahul Ray, who allegedly cheated people by claiming they could secure employment in various government offices. Police said the duo collected around Rs 12,000 per applicant, mostly targeting women and people from economically weaker families in Sambalpur, Bargarh, Boudh, and Sonepur districts.

Modus operandi of the accused

According to police, the accused posed as intermediaries with links to government offices and used forged documents and fake recommendation letters to gain the trust of their victims. They also organised small community meetings to convince job aspirants about the legitimacy of the recruitment drive.

The scam came to light when several women approached local leaders after failing to receive job confirmation letters despite paying money. Acting on the complaints, Burla Police launched a detailed probe and later carried out coordinated raids at multiple locations based on tip-offs.

Police probe underway

Sambalpur SP Mukesh Kumar Bhamoo said the police team conducted a sting operation before moving in on the accused. “We have seized around Rs 62 lakh in cash, which was collected from job aspirants. The amount was recovered from different locations after several hours of search,” the SP said.

Police are now tracing the money trail and UPI transactions linked to the scam to identify others who might be involved. Further investigation is underway.

Also read: Odisha CM decides to handover Police SI recruitment scam case to CBI.