Kendrapada: The lure of high-salaried jobs in Gulf countries has led at least 25 people to fall victim to a visa racket and get duped of Rs 25 lakh in Odisha’s Kendrapada district.
According to sources, Manoj Mallick of Narendrapur village in Aul block in the district was assured of a job in Kuwait by Amulya Mallick of Belasarapur village two months back. Amulya, who claimed himself to be a visa agent, said he can engage Manoj in a construction company as a plumber in the Gulf country.
Amulya asked Manoj to pay Rs 1 lakh towards processing fees, travel and initial boarding expenses. Another victim, Pramod Sahoo of Rajnagar, was also made similar offer. They were assured of monthly salary of Rs 50,000 along with free food and accommodation.
Believing Amulya’s assurance, Manoj and 24 others paid Rs 1 lakh each to Amulya. “Amulya provided us air tickets and visa documents. But once we reached Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport in Mumbai last week to board the flight to Kuwait, we were shocked to learn that the tickets and visa papers were fake,” TNIE quoted Sahoo as saying.
On realising that they had been duped by Amulya, they returned home and filed a complaint against him at Aul police station on Saturday.
On the basis of the complaint, the police have registered a case and launched investigation, said IIC of Aul police station Dilip Sahoo. They have also launched a manhunt to trace Amulya who is absconding.
