Maha: Retired Army official arrested for duping job aspirants

A retired Army Captain was arrested Saturday for allegedly duping people of several lakh rupees on the pretext of giving them jobs at a Navy canteen, a senior Crime Branch official said.

The scam came to light Saturday morning when six of these job aspirants approached the Defence Audit Controller's office in south Mumbai with "appointment letters" as canteen attendants, the official said.

"The candidates had received these letters from Delhi, On verification, they were found to be fake, following which an inquiry was initiated," he said.

The six persons told police that they were students of Sarasvati Defence Academy in Andhra Pradesh's Vishakhapatnam city, he said.

"The academy is run by retired Captain Imendri Shailendranath Trinetra (49). The six persons said they had paid Rs 6 lakh each to Trinetra to get jobs as canteen attendants," the official said.

"Trinetra, who was in Mumbai, was called for questioning. We found that Trinetra made false promises to the aspirants and also managed to get them undergo a medical test at a local hospital there," said Dilip Sawant, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Detection), Mumbai.

He said Trinetra sent the candidates fake appointment letters from New Delhi.

Police said a case was registered on a complaint made by the office of the Chief Defence Audit Controller, following which the accused was arrested.