The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Thursday carried out nationwide search operations targeting an organised gang accused of running a fake government job racket that allegedly cheated aspirants by issuing bogus appointment letters for various government departments, ANI reported.
The searches, which began early in the morning, are being conducted at 15 locations across the country.
The Patna Zonal Office of the ED is leading the operations, covering three locations in Bihar, two in West Bengal, four in Kerala, one each in Tamil Nadu and Gujarat, and four in Uttar Pradesh, in close coordination with respective state police forces.
The places being searched included Muzaffarpur (one) and Motihari (two) in Bihar; Kolkata (two) in West Bengal; one each in Ernakulam, Pandalam, Adoor and Kodur in Kerala; Chennai (one) in Tamil Nadu; Rajkot (one) in Gujarat; and Gorakhpur (two), Prayagraj (one) and Lucknow (one) in Uttar Pradesh.
ANI reported citing officials that the scam, initially detected in the name of Indian Railways, was later found to have spread to over 40 government organisations and departments, including the Forest Department, Railway Recruitment Board (RRB), Indian Post, Income Tax Department, High Courts, Public Works Department (PWD), Bihar Government, Delhi Development Authority (DDA), Rajasthan Secretariat, among others.
The officials, privy to the case, said the investigations revealed that the accused used fake email accounts impersonating official government domains to issue forged appointment and joining letters.
"To gain trust, they made initial salary payments for two to three months to some victims, who were placed in roles like RPF personnel, Travelling Ticket Examiners (TTEs) and Technicians in Indian Railways," they added.
