Pune: As many as 20 aspirant candidates, who were keen to join Indian Army, were conned to the tune of Rs58.50 lakh by a person who projected himself as an ex-servicemen. The person had promised jobs in defence establishments and took money from these candidates.
The incident came to light when Harshavardhan Bhosale (21), a resident of Sangli, lodged a complaint with Khadki police station against Sandip Gurav, a resident of Kolhapur. P D Patil inspector in-charge of Khadki police station said, “Complainant is a graduate and is unemployed. He works on his father’s farm in Sangli. For two years he is being trying to clear the civil exams but all his attempts were unsuccessful. When he was looking for a job, he met Gurav through a mutual friend who projected himself as an ex-serviceman. The meeting was held in the army canteen in November 2013 and Gurav promised to give him job in defence establishment. He demand Rs2.75 lakh to clear the exams without giving medical and physical tests. Gurav later claimed that the work will be done if he gets more candidates.”
He added, “Complainant contacted other youngsters and collected Rs58.50 lakh from them. Many aspirant candidates are from Kolhapur, Sangli and Solapur. He called everyone in city and made them stay in a Shivajinagar lodge. Gurav collected their documents and made them sign on the medical test papers and claimed that he will give them an offer letter. Later the youths got an offer letter with govt logo along with Army motto, which mentioned that they have to be present in Pune based defence training center on July 2. When the candidates reached the center, they found that the letter was forged.”
