Tripura railway job scam: Police arrest key accused Ashim Dey

Ashim Dey, prime accused in Tripura railway recruitment scam was arrested by Crime Branch. Six cases of bogus appointments demanding Rs 5-6 lakhs have been reported in the state and police say an organized racket is behind the scam.

Agartala: Tripura police crime branch unit has arrested Ashim Dey, purportedly the prime accused in the railway recruitment scam that once rattled the state. The fraudsters allegedly created fake recruitment websites to dupe hundreds of job aspirants across the country.

In Tripura, six cases have been reported so far where aspirants filled up job applications, appeared for exams but after being charged a hefty amount—about Rs 5-6 lakhs as fees failed to get any job. They were, however, given appointment letters which after verification turned out to be bogus. A case was registered under Sections 420 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code.

Earlier, two persons were arrested in connection with the case, but Dey’s arrest came as a major breakthrough in the case. Ashim Dey (37) was nabbed from Baikhora under South Tripura district during a joint operation initiated by the crime branch and police officers of the Baikhora police station.

Police sources said, “This is an organized racket active across the country. They target job aspirants and send pop up notifications through social media. Once they fall prey, the fraudster begins to charge them for their exams, job applications etc. They are also running their own fake training camps.”

According to sources, accused Dey is posted at Gandacherra as an IT instructor and has been in hiding since police started to trace the cyber perpetrators. His accomplices identified as Ankush Debnath, Arindam Debnath and Sumen Das were arrested earlier and now sent to police custody.

Dey had been brought to Amtali police station for interrogation. Police team investigating the case also revealed that they had charged Rs 5-6 lakh per candidate for the jobs.

“We have got the names of the kingpins. We are trying our best to trace their location and nab them before they escape the police watch," a source in the police department said, refusing to disclose any as investigation are still underway.