Darjeeling: A fake Army recruitment racket was busted in West Bengal's Siliguri with a man impersonating a Lt Colonel turning out to be its mastermind. Acting on inputs, the joint team of the intelligence wing of the Indian Army's Trishakti Corps and Siliguri Police Commissionerate busted the racket and arrested the accused Dalchand Verma.
Sources said the fake Lt Colonel had been duping gullible people who showed interest to join the Army, and asking them to deposit money in his account. Upon receiving information about the racket, the Indian Army contacted the Siliguri Police Commissionerate. Thereafter, the joint team of the Army and Siliguri Police Commissionerate's Bhaktinagar Police launched an operation to arrest the culprit.
The accused Dalchand Verma is a resident of Lower MG Marg Road in Gangtok, Sikkim. He was arrested by the joint team of the Army and Siliguri Police from a restaurant situated in the Salugara locality adjacent to Siliguri on Monday night.
The accused identified himself as Lieutenant Colonel of the Artillery Corps of the Indian Army. Police seized a mobile phone, a fake Indian Army enrollment/recruitment form, and an identity card from the accused. Police sources said it is alleged that Dalchand took Rs 2-2.5 lakh from several people on the pretext of ensuring their job in the Army.
The police had inputs that a racket was active in the region. A gang of fraudsters was coming to meet some job seekers in Siliguri. As the name of an Army officer was detected in the racket, the police also contacted the Indian Army. When the joint team of police and Army raided the restaurant, Dalchand was sitting alone in Army uniform and was having lassi. It appeared that he was waiting to meet some people at the restaurant. The accused was produced before the Siliguri Sub-Divisional Court on Tuesday. Police have launched a probe to find out others' involvement in the scam.
