Bangalore police bust maritime job racket, two arrested

The Bangalore police arrested two persons, who had cheated scores of gullible youths by promising them maritime jobs in the Gulf.

Police said the duo, posing as a “senior manager of a maritime institute” and “ship captain”, had collected Rs 75,000 from each of the dozens of cheated youths after promising them jobs Dubai.

The modus operandi of the fraudsters was to fix interviews for the candidates at posh hotels and collect fees from them for “job-related expenses”. Next, they would delay the “letter of offer” to the candidates by citing various hurdles including cancellation of maritime services to the Gulf. Finally, they would disappear without a trace, police said.

The accused Gavin, 30, who was masquerading as “senior manager of a maritime institute”, and Aslam, 30, who was posing as a “ship manager”, had collected a total of Rs 750,000 from ten youths hailing from Andhra Pradesh recently. The youths, were eager to go the Gulf countries, had attended the interview at a posh hotel in Bangalore and coughed up Rs 75,000 each in two instalments of Rs 30,000 and Rs 45,000.

The youths were asked to sign certain documents and even told to resign their current jobs, which they did without thinking twice in their eagerness to go overseas. Subsequently, when there was no sign of the “letter of offer”, the duo’s standard refrain was that services of all ships to the Gulf countries had been cancelled due to the “tsunami”.

Gavin’s and Aslam’s arrest in Bangalore came about with the help of one of the cheated youth Bhaskar, who learnt that twelve others had been invited for an interview by the duo in Bangalore and promised jobs in much the same fashion.

Bhaskar alerted the police and laid a trap for them. Policemen in plainclothes went to the hotel along with the youths, who had brought with them the first instalment of Rs 30,000. The duo, who confessed to the crime, were promptly arrested and put behind bars.