Patna, March 13: A middle-aged man was arrested today on the charge of duping several rural women of lakhs of rupees with the promise of providing them teaching jobs.
According to Gandhi Maidan police station, the man was identified as Sanjeev Kumar Singh, a resident of Supaul, who was caught by around 25 women today and handed over to them.
Police sources said an FIR had already been lodged against him a couple of months ago at Digha police station. So Singh was handed over to Digha police station.
Sources said Singh started a non-governmental organisation (NGO) — Yuva Jagaran Sansthan — in May last year. He started encouraging rural women to become members of his NGO.
Sources said he took Rs 7,000 in two instalments from each woman and in turn, gave them slates and pencils to teach 20 students of their locality. He promised to pay them Rs 1,300 in return. If a woman brought in seven more members, she would have been made the supervisor and her salary would be raised to Rs 2,000 apart from relieved of teaching.
A source said many women from Digha, Maner, Hajipur came to Singh seeking jobs after he opened an office at Bank Colony in Digha. They all enrolled as members and paid him the requisite amount. The number of women cheated could go up to thousands, a police source said. According to the women, everything was fine till September last year with the women getting their salaries regularly.
A woman, on condition of anonymity, said they received their money till September last year and then the delay in their monthly salaries started.
By December, the conditions had turned grave when suddenly Singh closed his office and disappeared. We searched for him but in vain.
In January this year, the aggrieved women lodged an FIR against Singh at Digha police station.
Some women received information that Singh was spotted in Gandhi Maidan area again trying to trap other women in his game plan. “We went there to catch him and brought him to the Gandhi Maidan police station. We want our money back,” the woman said. The police said the man was being interrogated and the case would be cracked shortly.
