Bhubaneswar, Dec 15: The Economic Offences Wing (EOW), Bhubaneswar, has arrested another accused in connection with the alleged fake job recruitment scam run under the banner of “Gramin Rojgar Kalyan Sansthan” (GRKS). The accused, Gautam Kumar, was arrested on December 11, 2025, from Rohini in New Delhi.
Gautam Kumar, a native of Dumaria Parbatta village in Khagaria district of Bihar, was apprehended in EOW Police Station Case No. 05 dated January 25, 2023, registered under Sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the IPC read with Section 66(C) of the IT Act. Following his arrest, he was produced before the Metropolitan Magistrate, Rohini, New Delhi, on the same day and brought to Odisha on transit remand. He is scheduled to be produced before the Designated Court under the OPID Act, 2011, at Cuttack on December 15, 2025.
The case was registered on the basis of a written report by Smt. Sasmita Sahoo, DSP, EOW, during an enquiry into a fake advertisement published in the Odia daily Dharitri on December 28, 2022. The advertisement, issued in the name of GRKS, invited applications for various posts such as District and Block Coordinator, Computer Operator and Block Surveyor, prescribing educational qualifications and remuneration. Applicants were directed to apply through the website www.grks.org
after paying application fees of Rs 170 for SC/ST candidates and Rs 320 for general candidates.
Investigation revealed that Dharampal Singh, Secretary of GRKS, operated the organisation from its registered office in New Delhi, with additional offices in Mumbai, Bhopal and Dehradun. Along with co-accused Amit Singh, an IT expert, and Jairam Tiwari, he developed the GRKS website and published similar advertisements in regional newspapers across more than 10 states.
Attracted by advertisements resembling government recruitment notices, lakhs of unemployed youths applied for various posts from 2020 onwards, paying the prescribed application fees. Although examinations were conducted, none of the candidates was given an appointment and most were deliberately disqualified. Through this modus operandi, GRKS allegedly misappropriated application fees amounting to crores of rupees.
So far, the investigation has established that approximately Rs 3.48 crore was deposited into accounts linked to GRKS and controlled by the accused persons.
Gautam Kumar was allegedly projected as a “Skill Developer” responsible for imparting training to selected candidates. However, investigators found that no training was ever conducted. Despite this, Gautam Kumar reportedly received Rs 69,20,010 from GRKS through the bank accounts of two companies—Yotta Edutech Pvt. Ltd. and Guruba Edutech Pvt. Ltd.—and a trust, Amogh Seva Foundation. The entire amount was allegedly misappropriated.
As the accused had been absconding, a non-bailable warrant (NBW) was issued against him by the court, leading to his arrest.
Earlier, three other accused—Dharampal Singh, Amit Singh and Jairam Tiwari—were arrested in the case, and a chargesheet has already been filed against them, while keeping the investigation open. Further investigation in the case is underway, EOW sources said.
