Mumbai, June 29 (AHN) A shocking revelation came to light in the Maharashtra Legislative Council on Monday regarding a massive racket operating in Pune.

The syndicate has allegedly been defrauding youths of lakhs of rupees by issuing fake appointment letters using forged signatures and seals under the pretext of securing jobs in the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC), as well as providing fake experience certificates, salary slips and PF accounts in the IT sector.

Minister for Industries Uday Samant assured the House that the government would initiate a suo motu inquiry into the entire matter.

Congress MLCs Satyajeet Tambe and Bhai Jagtap raised the issue through a calling attention motion.

In response, Minister Samant stated that the Home Department would conduct an impartial investigation into the gangs accused of cheating unemployed youths and that the culprits would face stringent action.

While presenting the motion, Tambe said: "Following scams in government recruitment, a network of fraud has now emerged in the private sector, particularly in the IT industry. As Pune is a major IT hub in the state, lakhs of youth arrive there in search of employment. Taking undue advantage of the fact that many prominent companies do not offer opportunities to freshers, certain gangs are fabricating fake experience certificates, Form-16s, salary slips and bank statements of major companies like TCS."

He alleged that between Rs 5 lakh and Rs 10 lakh was being extorted from each candidate.

Tambe noted that the fraud came to light after a Bengaluru-based company conducted a background verification of candidates, and he demanded a dedicated helpline for youths falling victim to such scams.

Meanwhile, MLC Bhai Jagtap named suspects Nilesh Rathod of Akola, Bharatlal Pandey and Abhinav Mishra in the House, demanding strict action against them.

Replying to the debate, Minister Samant stated that the initial complaint regarding the Pune Municipal Corporation did not name anyone specifically.

In one case, the complainant had withdrawn the grievance after Rs 50 lakh out of the allegedly defrauded Rs 70 lakh was returned.

However, since the same individual's name had surfaced in three different complaints, the government would conduct a suo motu investigation despite the withdrawal of the complaint.

He added that a thorough investigation would be conducted into the roles of Nilesh Rathod, Bharatlal Pandey and Abhinav Mishra.

If found guilty, strict action would be taken under laws carrying punishment of up to 10 years' imprisonment.

Furthermore, the Minister stated that this fake experience certificate racket was not limited to Pune alone and that instructions would be issued to verify similar instances across all police commissionerates in the state.

He assured the House that the existing police helpline was fully capable of handling complaints from youths and that the identities of complainants would be kept strictly confidential.

During the discussion, BJP MLC Pravin Pote raised questions over the functioning of the police department.

He expressed strong displeasure over the delay, questioning why no concrete action had been taken for six months despite a complaint having been lodged on January 30.

He emphasised that in such serious matters, the police needed to take immediate suo motu action.