PROMISING JOBS without interviews and claiming to have contacts in Mantralaya and several government departments, two men allegedly duped 117 job aspirants from Pune and neighbouring districts of Rs 3.73 crore. Pune rural police have launched a manhunt for fraudsters who allegedly used fake selection lists, forged appointment letters and even bogus calls for training.
The large-scale government job scam has come to light in Pune district, where two men — Subahu Sarkar alias Rana and Pramod Hagwan Gurav — have been accused of cheating 117 job seekers by promising guaranteed recruitment in central and state government departments. According to the FIR lodged at Baramati police station on Saturday, the complainant, who is a labour contractor from Baramati, alleged that he was introduced to accused Sarkar by Gurav in early 2022.
As per the complaint, Gurav claimed Sarkar had strong connections with senior officials in the Maharashtra government and could secure jobs in departments such as Health, Forest, Water Resources, Social Welfare and also in Railways and ONGC in the central government. To convince the complainant, Gurav allegedly showed him lists of candidates who had purportedly already been recruited through Sarkar’s influence.
The FIR states that during subsequent meetings in Baramati and Pune, Sarkar allegedly made extraordinary promises to attract candidates. He reportedly claimed that once recruitment notifications were issued, he would send candidates’ names to officials known to him. He assured that selected candidates would not have to answer questions during interviews and would be directly included in the final selection list.
The accused allegedly insisted that the entire process was highly confidential and claimed he only accepted candidates through trusted contacts. He reportedly told the complainant that he had already helped nearly 400 people obtain government jobs ‘without any complaints.’
“The complainant has further alleged that Sarkar demanded around Rs 5 lakh per candidate for state government jobs and Rs 6 lakh for railway jobs, saying railway recruitment required higher payments because it came under the Central Government. Candidates were allegedly asked to pay advance amounts of Rs three lakh for state government posts and Rs four lakh for railway jobs along with copies of their application forms.” said an officer from Pune Rural police.
Believing these assurances, the complainant began contacting and gathering candidates from his personal network. Between 2023 and 2024, he gathered 117 aspirants, including 95 seeking jobs in various Maharashtra government departments and 22 applying for central posts.
The FIR states that the complainant initially handed over Rs 35 lakh in cash along with the candidates’ details during a meeting in Baramati. Over the next two years, from 2023 to 2025, more money was allegedly transferred to bank accounts provided by the accused and also paid in cash.A total of Rs 3.33 crore was paid to Sarkar, including Rs 1.28 crore through online transfers and RS 2.14 crore in cash. Another Rs 40 lakh was allegedly paid to Gurav through online transactions and cash, taking the total alleged fraud to Rs 3.73 crore.
It is alleged that after collecting the money, the accused supplied fake selection lists carrying forged government seals and fabricated appointment letters. Police said that the candidates were made to believe they had been officially selected and were even sent for so-called training to create the impression that they had secured government employment. But when the candidates reported to the places of training and appointment as mentioned in the letters, they realised that they had been cheated.
Based on the complaint, Baramati police have registered a case against Sarkar alias Rana and Gurav under multiple sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita related to criminal conspiracy, cheating, forgery and other offences. The investigation is being carried out by the Baramati police.
“Multiple teams have been formed to search and arrest Sarkar and Gurav. We have found that Gurav has been booked in a similar fraud case in Pune in the past.” an officer added.
