C'garh: Two Cong youth wing leaders booked in cheating case

An offence has been registered against two senior leaders of the Indian Youth Congress (IYC) for allegedly duping three persons of Rs 5.35 lakh on the pretext of providing them government jobs in 2016, police said on Tuesday.

The police on Monday registered an FIR against IYC national secretary Mohammad Shahid and the state unit secretary Zulfkar Siddhiqui, hailing from Bhilai, under sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC at Khurispar police station limits, an official said.

No arrests have been made so far and further action will be taken following a probe, said Sanjay Dhruv, Durg (City) additional superintendent of police.

In his complaint, one Ashwin Kaushal claimed that he had met Shahid during the recruitment to the posts of hostel superintendent by the Chhattisgarh Professional Examination Board in 2016, the official said.

The complainant and his friends Bhupendra Dewangan and Madan Kaushal, all residents of Bhilai, had allegedly paid Rs 5.35 lakh as advance to Shahid for the jobs, and Shahid's associate Siddhiqui was also allegedly involved in the act, the ASP said, quoting the complaint.

According to the complaint, the trio did not get jobs and had failed to get their money back.

Meanwhile, refuting the allegations, Shahid termed the charges as politically motivated and said he was being implicated in a false case.

The police have also received another complaint against Shahid on Monday, in which his own outfit's leader Amit Jain has accused him of fraud.

Jain has claimed that he had lent Rs 11 lakh to Shahid in 2019, but the latter allegedly refused to repay the loan, another official said, adding that the complaint is being verified.