Satyajit Barath Kamble, the alleged kingpin behind the fake Army recruitment scheme. (Photo via special arrangement.)
New Delhi: A joint operation by Military Intelligence and Maharashtra Police has busted a fake Indian Army recruitment racket and arrested the alleged mastermind of the elaborately planned scheme. According to officials in the Army, the sleuths in the MI and Maharashtra Police conducted the operation on specific intelligence inputs and arrested one Satyajit Barath Kamble, the alleged brain behind a massive fake recruitment racket targeting candidates aspiring to join the Army.
Kamble, who had been impersonating as a major in the Army, was apprehended in Ahmednagar after a prolonged manhunt that spanned multiple states, including Maharashtra, Telangana, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Punjab, Haryana, and New Delhi.
The operation, which culminated in Kamble’s arrest, revealed the extensive reach of the fraudulent scheme. Kamble and his accomplices had been running fake training camps in Dehradun in Uttarakhand, and Shrigonda in Maharashtra, where they duped hundreds of candidates by promising them jobs in the armed forces.
The investigation uncovered that the racket had amassed approximately ₹3–4 crore by charging each candidate ₹7–8 lakhs.
Kamble’s modus operandi involved luring candidates through recruitment rallies and academies located in various states. The candidates were then directed to the fake training camps, where they were issued counterfeit joining letters purportedly signed by high-ranking Army officials. The fraudulent activities were meticulously planned, with Kamble and his team even impersonating serving Army personnel to gain the trust of the unsuspecting candidates.
Further investigations are underway to identify and apprehend other members of the racket, including female touts who played a crucial role in the operation.
The busting of this racket has brought to light the vulnerabilities in the recruitment process and the lengths to which fraudsters will go to exploit the aspirations of young individuals seeking to serve their country. This is not the first time the country has witnessed such fake recruitment rackets in the military. From time to time, the authorities have been urging aspirants to verify the authenticity of recruitment drives and training camps through official channels to avoid falling prey to such scams.
