Overseas job fraud: agency operator arrested in Rudrapur in Dubai visa case, 61 passports and illegal pistol found at office; also accused of taking ₹19.27 lakh from youths sent to Armenia

Police have arrested the 29-year-old operator of an overseas placement agency in Awas Vikas, Rudrapur, in the case of a young man who was allegedly sent to Dubai on a visitor visa passed off as a work visa. According to Dainik Bhaskar and ETV Bharat, SSP Ajay Ganapathy said 61 passports, a diary and an illegal .32 bore pistol were found on him in a search. The young man had complained on October 29 that he paid ₹2 lakh after selling his bike and jewellery, and got back only ₹30,000 when he asked for the money on his return. According to the SSP, eight young men from Amroha, Moradabad and Jaspur were promised jobs in Armenia at about ₹55,000 a month with free accommodation, and a total of ₹19.27 lakh was taken from them; it is alleged that after they reached there in September they were given lower-paid work and asked to pay separately for food and lodging. According to Bhaskar, seven of them are still stuck in Armenia. Police are using the passports and the diary to trace other victims. Always check an overseas job agent's registration on emigrate.gov.in.