Former Lance Naik arrested for duping Army job seekers in Jabalpur

Jabalpur, Aug 8 (PTI) A 45-year-old former Army Lance Naik was arrested on Friday morning in Jabalpur for allegedly duping unemployed youths seeking jobs in defence forces of lakhs of rupees, police said.

Military Intelligence (MI) handed over the accused, Rajesh Kumar Rajbhar, a resident of Ranjhi in Jabalpur, to local police, which placed him under arrest, said an official, adding so far the job fraud has been pegged at Rs 17 lakh.

"He took money from aspirants and issued them fake appointment letters (for posts in armed forces)," Ranjhi police station sub-inspector and investigation officer Mayank Yadav told PTI.

Four complainants have approached the police so far.

One of them, Arvind Kol, alleged that Rajbhar took Rs 4.80 lakh from him to secure compassionate appointment after the death of his father while serving in the Army, Yadav said.

The other three complainants claimed they were cheated of Rs 12.30 lakh in total on the pretext of providing Army jobs, the officer said.

"We are interrogating the accused to gather more details about his modus operandi. More complainants are expected to come forward," Yadav said.

Rajbhar has been booked for cheating and forgery under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), he informed.

Jabalpur houses the headquarters of the Madhya Bharat area of the Army's Central Command and the oldest cantonment of Madhya Pradesh. The city is also home to ordnance factories and several other key defence establishments. PTI LAL RSY