The police on Wednesday arrested three persons on the charge of job fraud in the name of the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) and pocketing money from aspirants from north Kerala districts.
The suspects, M.K. Shiju, M.K. Sijin, and M. Babu, were nabbed following a week-long investigation by the Mukkom police led by Inspector K. Prajeesh. The probe was ordered by District Police Chief (Kozhikode Rural) A. Sreenivas on a petition by an applicant from Mukkom village.
According to the police, Shiju and Sijin, who are siblings and natives of Vallathayippara in Mukkom, had colluded with Edappal native Babu for the fraud. They are accused of collecting ₹7.5 lakh from three individuals, including the complainant, by offering permanent jobs in the railways.
The police said the three were also found involved in other similar cases earlier registered within the limits of Thiruvambady, Ponnani and Changaramkulam stations. “One of the main suspects in the latest cheating case is a woman, and she is still at large,” they added.
According to the petitioners, over 500 job aspirants were cheated. The trickery was done using a fake email address and instant messaging groups created in the name of the railways.
The complainants had said that the fraudsters had approached them as RRB members to win their trust. Besides, the name of the Chairman of Southern Railways was misused.
The alleged involvement of some local BJP workers in the case had also come as a shocker for many. There were also efforts on the part of the suspects to misuse the photographs of senior BJP leaders to influence job aspirants. M.K. Shiju, who was a BJP worker, was suspended by the party.
