In continuation to an ongoing probe in the railway job racket case busted last month, another breakthrough came with Delhi Police nabbing two masterminds, one of whom had contested Delhi Assembly elections in 2020 on the ticket of Jan Sambhaavna Party and lost. Sukhdev Singh and Sandeep Sidana, the main masterminds, were arrested during raids conducted at several places across Delhi and the National Capital Region (NCR), said Deputy Commissioner of Police (Railways) Harender Kumar Singh in a press briefing.
The masterminds were held after the disclosure of two earlier arrested persons– Mohd Rizwan and Amandeep Singh, said the officer, adding “they had disclosed the names of Sukhdev and Sandeep as main masterminds.” Sukhdev, who used to work as a small-time car dealer in the New Seelampur area in East Delhi, had contested Delhi Assembly elections in 2020, but lost, said the DCP.
The officer said Sukhdev had done a “huge investment with borrowed money, and later came under a lot of debt”. Sukhdev was arrested from GT Road, Model Town, Ghaziabad, where he was hiding for several days. One Mercedes car which he purchased with the fraud money has also been recovered.
Sandeep was arrested after a trap was laid near Bhikaji Cama Place. A BMW which he purchased with the fraud money has also been recovered from his possession. On their disclosure, two other associates of them namely Deepak and Rahul were arrested on Monday.
Police said that Deepak works as a contractual pump operator in the DRM office in New Delhi, whereas Rahul’s maternal uncle is an ambulance driver in Railway Hospital, Chelmsford Road, New Delhi. New Delhi Railway Station Police unearthed the railway job racket on August 31 by arresting a group of five persons impersonating trainee ticket examiners.
Sukhdev used to allure the prospective job aspirants after negotiating the amount to be paid for the job, said the DCP, adding “he then used to refer the details to Sandeep”. “They used to share the booty on case to case basis. Several transactions between them have been detected. But most of the money flowed in cash. They came into contact with each other in 2020 when Sukhdev used to work as a small-time car dealer in the New Seelampur area…” said the officer.
“Sukhdev sought help from Sandeep and both decided to cheat job aspirants in Railways. Sandeep suggested him to open a job placement agency in his native place in District Hoshiyarpur (PB) and refer them to him.” Sandeep had earlier done placements in call centres and had a good experience in the field, said the officer, adding “he used to prepare fake railway application forms and I-Cards which they used to share on mobile phones”.
“Sandeep had kept two boys namely Deepak and Rahul in the DRM office and Railway Hospital, near New Delhi Railway Station. Both these boys had easy access to the Railway offices. Deepak is a contractual pump operator and Rahul’s maternal uncle is an ambulance driver in the Railway Hospital. The families of both these boys had been living in servant quarters of Railways, since birth,” said the officer. “One year ago they have shifted from there. The mother of Rahul used to work in the staff quarters of the railways. The job aspirants were referred to these boys, who used to take them to DRM office where the forms were filled up and then would give them a round inside office, in order to convince them,” the DCP said.
For medical examination, the officer said the accused used to take the victims in the secluded rooms and bathrooms of the Railway Hospital where they were physically examined and at times blood samples were also taken to further enhance the credibility of the whole process of recruitment. A luxury car purchased with the fraud money by Sukhdev, a luxury car purchased with the fraud money by Sandeep, and eight mobile phones containing incriminating evidence, have been recovered from the accused.
