Delhi railway job fraud: 28 people made to count trains at New Delhi Railway Station

New Delhi: A major recruitment fraud has emerged in the National Capital wherein 28 people from Tamil Nadu were made to count trains at New Delhi Railway Station for over a month. The victims were unaware that the job assigned to them was part of an elaborate job scam devised to dupe them. The unsuspecting victims were told that they were appointed as travel ticket examiner (TTE), clerks and traffic assistants, and counting arrivals and departures was part of their training. For the fake training, the new joinees were charged between Rs 2 lakh to Rs 24 lakh.

Delhi Police's Economic Offences Wing is investigating the fraud. The incident took place between June and July this year, and the victims were duped of a total of Rs 2.67 crore. The complaint was lodged by a man named M Subbusamy, an ex-serviceman.

The victims had approached Subbuswamy with their problem, who decided to help them.

According to them, a person named Vikas Rana posed as the deputy director in the Northern Railway office in Delhi.

Most of the victims of the fraud are highly educated and are from technical and engineering background.

A victim from Madurai told the news agency that the fake recruitment was done for the posts of TTE, traffic assistants and clerks but everyone underwent the same training -- counting trains at stations.

Subbusamy now works as an activist and helps unemployed youths.

He told the police in his complaint that a person named Sivaraman -- who claimed to have contacts with members of Parliament -- met with him. He said the man promised him jobs for unemployed youths and asked them to come to Delhi with him. The person said there was a job vacancy for three people. As the news spread in neighbouring villages, others also joined them.

He said in the complaint, as per PTI, that these candidates were called for a medical examination at Connaught Place at the Railway Central Hospital and their documents were verified at the office of the Junior Engineer, Northern Railways.

Rana would always meet them outside the railway buildings for the collection of money and never inside. He collected information and documents. He also gave fake orders for training, id cards and training certificates. However, when they cross-verified with the railways, they were found to be forged.

Yogesh Baweja, Additional Director General for Media and Communication in the Ministry of Railways, said the Railway Board has been regularly issuing advisories and alerting the common people against such fraudulent practices.

"Youngsters should be very careful while dealing with such elements and they should always contact the Railway officials concerned in such situations," he said.

With inputs from PTI