2 Ludhiana girls promised jobs abroad duped of Rs 36L, 3 booked

Three persons allegedly committed a fraud of Rs 36 lakh by luring two girls with the promise of securing care worker jobs in England.

Based on a complaint filed by Harjeet Singh, owner of ‘Education Overseas and Consultant,’ Malhar Road, Gurdev Nagar, the Police Division 5 yesterday registered a case against the accused, identified as Raj Kumar of Ludhiana, who now lives in England, and Ashok Kumar and Abhishek Nathaniel, both residents of Sadhu Sundar Singh Colony here. A case was registered on the charges of fraud, criminal conspiracy, tampering with documents and other sections of the IPC.

Complainant Harjeet Singh stated that the three accused were his old acquaintances. Some time ago, Raj Kumar after returning from England had contacted Harjeet and claimed that many elderly people in England required medical caretakers. He assured Harjeet that if he had any clients, he could easily send them to England. He proposed charging Rs 18 lakh per client for securing the caretaker visa.

“Two girls from Ludhiana contacted me, expressing interest in going abroad. Falling for the deception, we began preparations to send the two girls to England as caretakers. The accused took Rs 18 lakh each from the two girls at the behest of Raj Kumar,” added the complainant.

After receiving the money, the accused provided the two girls with a Certificate of Sponsorship (COS) letter. The girls began preparing for their roles as caretakers in England. Months passed after the deal was made in 2023, but the accused failed to secure the girls’ visas. When he contacted them, they kept making excuses.

Becoming suspicious, he checked the COS letter on the immigration website of England, which was found to be fake, the complainant said, adding that when confronted, the accused promised him that they would return Rs 36 lakh soon.

However, despite passage of a long time, the accused did not return the money. Harjeet mentioned that he had already repaid the money to his two clients from his own pocket but he himself could not get even a penny back from the accused.

Since the accused failed to return his money, he filed a complaint with the Police Commissioner. After several months of investigation, the police registered a case against the three accused and began searching for them.