Pehowa man runs racket in Haryana Sports Minister’s name

Nitish Sharma

Tribune News Service

Kurukshetra, September 5

They both have rhyming names, but the similarity ends there. While Sandeep Singh took Indian hockey to new heights and is the current Haryana Sports and Youth Affairs Minister, Mandeep allegedly used Sandeep’s name to run a fake job racket.

A former Indian hockey captain, Sandeep Singh has lodged an FIR against Mandeep Saini for allegedly duping seven youths on the pretext of providing them jobs in Kurukshetra University and the state electricity department.

A Kurukshetra resident, Mandeep, who has been arrested, would introduce himself as a Hindi daily journalist as well as a close aide of the Minister, it is learnt. He would offer the jobs for as low as Rs 20,000, charging Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 as advance. In two cases, he had even provided fake job letters.

Better known for his biopic ‘Soorma’ featuring Diljit Dosanjh, Sandeep Singh is a legislator from Pehowa in Kurukshetra district. The Minister claimed he got to know about the alleged fraud from a Haryana Vidhan Sabha employee, Maya Ram, a Pehowa resident.

“Maya Ram apprised me that a man in Pehowa was charging money for jobs using my name. I directed the Kurukshetra SP to register a case…. Our government has been working with transparency and if someone tries to cheat people, strict action must be taken,” the Minister said.

Maya Ram alleged Mandeep introduced himself as Singh’s media adviser. “He first promised to help my son secure a job in Kurukshetra University. He sought Rs 20,000--Rs 15,000 in advance. Then he assured jobs to my two cousins in the state electricity department. In all, he pocketed Rs 78,560 from seven youths,” added Maya Ram.

Pehowa Station House Officer Dinesh Kumar said Mandeep had been arrested and would be produced in court tomorrow.

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