Purba Bardhaman MLAs have reported a suspected job fraud scheme in which callers posing as senior managers of a state-owned bank asked them to send the biodata and personal details of unemployed residents in their constituencies.
The callers allegedly promised jobs paying up to Rs 45,000 a month and contacted legislators by phone and WhatsApp. Several Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs from the district said they had received similar messages, while police have begun investigating complaints filed in connection with the calls.
Jamalpur BJP MLA Arun Haldar filed a written complaint at Jamalpur police station after receiving two calls from the same number on September 3, according to the report. The calls were made at 2.52 pm and around 3.45 pm, and the caller identified himself as a senior manager of a state-owned bank.
The caller told Haldar that three jobs were available for unemployed young people in his Assembly constituency and asked for suitable candidates’ biodata and some personal information. Haldar said he ignored the first call but became suspicious when the same request was repeated. He said he did not share any information.
Police investigating the complaint have reportedly found that the calls to the Jamalpur MLA originated from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh. Investigators are examining the phone number provided in the complaint and the wider pattern of calls made to legislators.
Haldar also alleged that other MLAs had received calls from people using the same senior bank manager identity. BJP MLAs Manab Guha of Memari and Soumen Karfa of Bhatar said they had received similar calls and informed police. The report also said that some legislators may have forwarded job seekers’ biodata to WhatsApp numbers supplied by the callers.
Police suspect that the legislators were used to make the recruitment claims appear credible before potential applicants were approached for money or additional personal information. The investigation is continuing.
