New Delhi: Rajan Singh had a good thing going for him. A clever act that worked at least fourteen times, before he was found out. By then he had made a neat sum of more than Rs five lakh and disappeared. Now he has left 35-year-old Murari Rajora and thirteen others wistfully looking at the All India Congress Committee (AICC) office, with job letters in their hands.
Murari and the other victims are all residents of Sangam Vihar in south Delhi. In December last year they met Rajan Singh who offered them jobs as Personal Assistants (PAs) in the offices of Congress MPs. The accused allegedly took Murari and another victim Giriraj to the office of Congress MP Parvez Hashmi when Hashmi was not there, to assure them that he wasn't bluffing.
First contact
"We first met Rajan in December 2010. He told me that there are vacancies in the office of the Congress party. He suggested that the requirement for the job is to have experience of working with any NGO. He then made us members of his own NGO Disabled Welfare Society Delhi. He prepared our I-cards and took 80,000 to 1 lakh rupees from each and every aspirant," said Murari.
The accused then went on to play his elaborate hoax. "On January 1 this year, he took us to the office of the Congress MP Parvez Hasmhi. The MP was not there. We met another person. Rajan said that the guy, SS Sharma, was the PA of the Congress leader. Sharma then told us that if we paid money to Rajan then we would get us jobs in AICC, or in any office of any Congress MP in Delhi. For taking us into confidence he mailed us an 'official' letterhead of the Congress office with an e-mail address of AICC. We received the e-mails from the id [email protected]," said Giriraj, one of the victims.
After the monetary transaction was over, Rajan suddenly disappeared. Phone(y) connection "We tried to contact him on his mobile number but in vain. Then we visited the AICC office and showed the letter to the receptionist. The receptionist called some other people and told us that the letter was forged and there was no such vacancy. Then on February 27, 2011 we received another letter on the 'official' letterhead of AICC. It clearly stated that all our job applications had been rejected," Murari added. Stunned by this, the victims again went to the Congress office.
Out of ideas
"Rajan switched off his mobile number and he has probably changed it. We tried to contact the Congress office but the office personnel clearly said that these letters were forged and there is no such vacancy. When we asked for the PA of Parvez Hashmi, the staff at the Congress office said that there was no PA of the Congress MP by the name of SS Sharma. After being disappointed everywhere we finally gave a complaint to the Sangam Vihar police station and now will be complaining in the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Delhi Police," Murari added. All 14 victims have planned to go to the EOW office on May 27. "Murari and the 13 others will complain to the DCP of EOW jointly as they have been duped of more than Rs 5.45 lakh," said Shivashish Gunwal, counsel of the victims.
B-Day Bluff
Just two days before he turned 42, Member of Parliament Syed Shahnawaz Hussain 'travelled' from Delhi to Siwan by train. Only the BJP leader wasn't aware of this. The e-ticket was of Vaishali Express, from Delhi to Siwan. The person who travelled on the MP's name knew that he could be easily caught and so applied for an e-ticket. Later, the police said that tickets were issued on another person's name. MiD DAY had reported the matter on December 14 last year.
MP speaks
When MiD DAY asked Congress MP Parvez Hashmi about the matter, he denied having any involvement in the case. "Not a single complainant tried to meet me as I used to sit in my office almost every day. No unauthorised persons are allowed to sit in any cabin here. I see it as a conspiracy to defame the Congress office. No person by the name of SS Sharma has ever been worked in my office in any capacity. My two assistants Siyaram and Vipin Kapoor have valid AICC identity cards. How can so many people give money to anyone without meeting me? If any such grouse is brought to my knowledge I will definitely file a complaint against the perpetrators immediately. Even before going to the cops no such complainant approached me," Hashmi told MiD DAY.
All the 'president's men'
An unidentified man is reported to have posed as President Pratibha Patil's joint secretary and written a letter to the Iran Embassy in New Delhi in August last year. The letter recommended the man for free medical treatment. The matter came to light when people at the embassy discovered that 'Rashtrapati Bhavan' was misspelt on the letterhead and brought the matter to the notice of the President's secretary. The Rashtrapati Bhavan informed the embassy that they had recommended no one and had no knowledge of the letter. The matter was reported to the police but so far no progress has been made.
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