Punjab woman held for duping men with job offers abroad

JALANDHAR - Jalandhar police have arrested a 25-year-old woman here for duping three young men of nearly Rs.32 lakh on the pretext of sending them to Portugal for employment, police said Saturday.

The woman has been identified as Nisha Gogna, whose father is settled in Portugal for the past many years. Police have also booked Nisha’s mother Nirmala Gogna, who is now on the run.

Nisha was arrested after police received a complaint from Jasbir Singh, a resident of Jandiala Manjika village of the district.

“I had paid Rs.10 lakh to Nisha and her mother and they had promised to send me to Portugal and to arrange a lucrative job there. Instead, they sent me to Romania along with Nisha’s brother, who later moved on to Portugal through some illegal route,” said Jasbir.

He said, “I stayed in Romania for five months till the expiry of my visa. During that period, Nisha and her mother remained in touch with me over phone and kept giving false assurances of sending me to Portugal. Two other youths of our village, Ranbir Singh and Harjit Singh, are still stranded in Romania.”

Earlier, Nisha and her family lived in Jandiala Manjika but shifted to Jalandhar city a few years ago.

“We have received three complaints against the mother-daughter duo. They were targeting gullible youths and told them that they had very good contacts in Portugal and can easily arrange jobs for them in that country,” Rajpal Sandhu, additional deputy commissioner of police (crime), Jalandhar, told IANS Saturday.

“Our Economics Offence Wing is looking into this matter. We have also come to know that Ranbir and Harjit are still stranded in Romania. They had paid around Rs.22 lakh to Nisha and now they do not have money to come back to India,” said Sandhu.