Patna cops take the seven gang members to the police station on Thursday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, April 7: With the arrest of seven members of a gang, the city police claimed to have busted a job racket thriving in the state.

According to the police, the gang members promised jobs to people and extorted money from them.

The gang members would lure their victims with Grade IV jobs in the railways. The members often met the job-seekers at Chandni Beer Bar.

Acting on a tip-off, a special team of Patna police raided the bar on Wednesday and nabbed the seven men, one of whom claimed to be a senior official with a local satellite news channel.

Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Alok Kumar said the men, belonging to different districts of the state, were running the racket for over three years now and had duped many people, taking as much as Rs 1.25 lakh from each, promising them with a job in the railways.

Speaking about the modus operandi of the gang, the SSP said: “They used to provide duplicate admit cards to those they entrapped. Then, they would conduct a fake examination in Hajipur. At the end of the examination, the gang would organise a fake interview of the candidate, again in Hajipur. The police have recovered a number of fake admit cards, marksheets and other documents from them.”

Kumar said the original educational certificates of the candidates were taken, stating they would be verified first and returned to them later.

“The cops have recovered the original educational certificates of many people. Once the candidates were under the impression that they had been selected for the job, they were asked to wait at home till they were intimated about their posting. The men were told that their certificates were being scanned and verified,” the officer said.

“What is surprising is that the men would be paid around Rs 10,000 for the first two months and given an assurance that their certificates were being verified. Then from the third month onwards, everything would stop, and the gang members would disappear,” he said.

The SSP said the involvement of some railway employees could not be ruled out.

“This (the connivance of railway officials) cannot be ruled out. The zonal office of the railways is in Hajipur. A police team will be sent to investigate and we will carry forward the investigations after that. One among the arrested men has claimed to be associated with a local media channel. He has produced an identity card and the same is being verified,” the SSP said.

“The racket has been going on for years now. The police got the information that these men assemble at Chandni Beer Bar near Rajendra Nagar terminal in an attempt to dupe more men. The police conduct-ed a raid and nabbed seven of them,” Kumar said, adding involvement of more men could not be ruled out.

The kingpin of the gang, identified as Munna Singh, is a resident of Gaurichak area in Patna. “One of his closest associates, Jai Shankar Chaudhary stays in Kankerbagh and hails from Darbhanga district,” the officer added.