200 youths, mostly from West Bengal, rescued as police bust fake job racket in Bihar

Purnea: About 200 youths, mostly from West Bengal, were rescued as a fake job racket was busted in Bihar's Purnea district on Wednesday, police said.

Five people were arrested in connection with the incident, they said.

The racket was busted after a victim, identified as Akhli Mandal of West Bengal's Dakshin Dinajpur district, managed to escape and report the matter to the police, they added.

"Police conducted searches at several locations in Purnea and rescued 200 youths from the clutches of the accused. The victim in his complaint told police that the youths, mostly residents of West Bengal, were promised jobs and brought to Purnea," police said in a statement.

Purnea is located at the Bihar-West Bengal border.

"The accused were running an online fake job racket and those who contacted them were asked to transfer Rs 21,000. When they reached Purnea, they were threatened and they were confined at certain rented accommodations. They were not provided any jobs as promised by the accused," the statement said.

"Somehow, Akhil Mandal managed to flee and lodged a complaint with the SP office," it said.

Police said searches were still underway, and an investigation started.

Those arrested were identified as Sukumar Rai, Tara Shankar Sharma, Jehangir and Vishnu Mandal -- all residents of West Bengal, and Shivpal Hembram of Bihar’s Araria district, they said.