New Delhi, July 1: The Delhi Police has busted a fake Railway jobs racket in the national capital region. The victims, 14 of whom have been identified, were defrauded upto Rs 10 lakh each.

The gang of fraudsters involved six main accused - Amit Pal, Manoj, Dinesh, Kuldeep and Jitender - who have been arrested - and a woman Priyanka, who is currently on the run.

Pal ran a job consultation agency - Green Tree Aviation. Job aspirants who approached him were promised high-paying jobs in the Indian Railways in return of paying upto Rs 10 lakh as processing and training fees.

The 14 victims who approached the police were duped nearly six months ago. They were also called for training at the outskirts of Delhi. During the three-month "training period", they were also paid Rs 8,500 as stipend. "All this was part of the plan," said Alok Kumar, Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime).

After they received no authorised confirmation letter, the victim approached the Indian Railways authorities who found they were defrauded by the agency.

"We have identified all the gang members and an effort is being made to trace Priyanka at the earliest. She had taken the largest share of the money and had even bought properties and assets with it," Kumar was quoted as saying by TOI.

Indian Railways, which is the largest employer in India, recruits aspirants only through the Railway Recruitment Board. Applications are invited online to minimise the scope of graft and ensure transparency. Job aspirants are recommended to beware of agencies which promise jobs with the Railways or other public institutions, along with private sector, in lieu of hefty payments.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Jul 01, 2018 08:35 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).