Jammu and Kashmir Police on Tuesday arrested the main accused in a ₹4.10 crore railway job fraud case in Jammu, officials confirmed on Wednesday. The suspect allegedly duped victims by falsely promising jobs through the Railway Board recruitment process and arranging fake supply tenders for drinking water bottles to Northern Railway.

How the Fraud Was Carried Out

According to police, the accused collected money from multiple victims under the pretext of securing railway employment and facilitating a tender for the supply of drinking water bottles to Northern Railway. The scheme combined two fraudulent offerings — job placement and a commercial contract — to lend it an air of legitimacy, investigators said.

A case under relevant sections of law was registered at the Channi Himmat police station in Jammu. Following the complaint, investigators identified and arrested the main accused, who is presently in judicial custody. 'The investigation is focused on identifying the entire network involved, tracing the financial transactions and establishing the roles of other individuals associated with the fraud,' police said in a statement.

Investigation Ongoing, Identities Withheld

Police have withheld the identities of those involved, stating that disclosure could compromise the ongoing probe. 'Efforts are now on to identify, trace and apprehend other suspects involved in the offence,' the statement added. Investigators are actively mapping financial transactions to uncover the full scope of the network.

A Pattern of Railway Job Scams in J&K

This arrest is not an isolated incident — it reflects a troubling pattern of railway job fraud across Jammu and Kashmir. In a similar case earlier, the Jammu Crime Branch registered an FIR against Abdul Razaq Tantray from Baramulla in July. Tantray allegedly collected money via cash and bank transfers from a complainant by promising a railway department job, and bolstered the deception with forged documents including a roll-number slip and receipt. That case remains under active investigation.

In 2025, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) of Crime Branch Kashmir filed a chargesheet before the Court of Judicial Magistrate 1st Class, Beerwah, Budgam, in FIR No. 08/2025. The accused — Abdul Hamid Sheikh (Beerwah), Adil Shah (Srinagar/Zewan), and Mufti Ghulam Hassan Kumar (Sopore/Beerwah) — had issued forged appointment letters for railway jobs. Notably, investigations revealed that one of the original complainants, Mufti Ghulam Hassan Kumar, was himself found to be actively extracting money from other victims using fake job orders — a disturbing twist that underscores the layered nature of such scams.

CBI Angle: Bribery in Konkan Railways

Corruption concerns in the railway sector in J&K extend beyond job fraud. On 8 February 2025, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) registered an FIR and booked Chief Engineer Sumeet Khajuria of Konkan Railways in a bribery case. Khajuria was associated with the strategically significant Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project in Jammu and Kashmir, a flagship connectivity initiative.

What Comes Next

Police have indicated that arrests beyond the main accused are likely as investigators trace financial flows and establish the roles of other individuals in the network. The recurrence of such frauds points to a persistent vulnerability among job-seekers in the region, who are reportedly targeted through forged official-looking documents and false assurances of government employment.