4 arrested for duping youths on pretext of providing jobs in Ayushman Bharat scheme

Four people were arrested for allegedly duping youths on the pretext of getting them employment in various government projects, police said Tuesday. The accused have been identified as Gyan Prakash (30), Ram Narayan (28), Rishi Kant (27) and Praveen Kumar (22), they said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) Madhur Verma said that Prakash, hailing from Gurgaon, used to place advertisements in newspapers seeking applications for jobs in various government schemes such as the Ayushman Bharat Yojana and would cheat applicants by collecting money after offering fake appointment letters. In a statement, the National Health Authority (NHA), the apex body implementing the health insurance scheme, said it was vigilant and constantly monitoring to avert any kind of fraud in the scheme and had informed Delhi Police about fake letters promising jobs.

Indu Bhushan, CEO of the National Health Authority, said, "Pradhan Mantri - Jan Arogya Yojana Ayushman Bharat is a free healthcare scheme and will never ask any individual to deposit money either for a job opportunity or insurance e-card registration, etc. Such fraudulent activities go against the entire National Health Authority's system as well as our efforts. "Hence, we request our colleagues in the media to verify the source of information before publishing an advertisement related to the PM-JAY Ayushman Bharat Scheme in their esteemed publications."

In a complaint with the police, Surender Kumar alleged that on April 14, he saw an advertisement published in a national Hindi daily regarding recruitment under the Ayushman Bharat Yojana. Kumar said he sent his resume to a specified mobile number following which he received a "joining letter" through speed post on April 25, according to the police officer.

When Kumar visited the specified office of the 'Ayushman Bharat Yojana' in Jeevan Bharti Building at Connaught Place, he came to know that the joining letter he had received was fake, the police officer said. A case was registered at Connaught Place and later several victims approached police in this regard, he said.

Accused Gyan Prakash was arrested on May 3 after police got a tip-off that he would visit Sector 14 market of Faridabad, he added. During interrogation, Gyan Prakash said that he had huge debt to pay and his friend convinced him to earn huge money through an easy way of cheating people on the pretext of providing jobs in leading projects, the DCP said.

His friend introduced him with people involved in such syndicate, including Rishi Kant and two others. Prakash later started his own setup, with help from Kant, Ram Narayan and Praveen Kumar.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)