MUMBAI, Sept. 30 -- A 35-year-old man from Solapur who pretended to be an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer from New Delhi has defrauded 36 job aspirants with fake promises of jobs as Income Tax inspectors and assistants. On Saturday, the Sahar police registered a case against the accused, Nilesh Rathod. Rathod hails from Barshi taluka of Solapur District. According to the police, he posed as a deputy secretary with the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), which recruits staff in various departments and ministries of the Central Government. "The FIR was registered based on a complaint lodged by Santosh Kharpude, a Navi-Mumbai resident," said a police officer. The complainant was looking for a job for his niece. When he went to his niece's house in Dharashiv, he found out the fraud had collected Rs.4 lakh each from candidates seeking assistant roles and Rs.6 lakh from those who sought inspector roles, the officer said. Aspirants were informed that they were required to pay more upon joining the service. "Rathod had told them he could also help people get jobs in the Indian army as well," the officer added. The police said Rathod met them at a five-star hotel in Andheri East and collected Rs.10 lakh from each in May 2023 for the job. He even gave them letters of appointment, and also pre-employment medical tests in government hospitals and police verification. After the process, the aspirants were waiting to receive their joining letters, but they never came. Police examined these documents and found they were all undated. "When the job seekers kept asking him about joining dates, Rathod began avoiding them. Finally, the defrauded young men approached the Income Tax department to inquire and learnt that the department had not issued the appointment letters they had. When the victims asked Rathod, he promised to return their money, but kept avoiding them," said the police officer. By the time they realised Rathod tricked them, the 36 aspirants had lost Rs.2.88 crore. The Sahar police registered a case under Sections 318 (cheating), 319 (cheating by personation), 336 (forgery), and 338 (forgery of valuable security will, etc.) of the Bhartiya Nyaya Sanhita, on Saturday. The police are searching for the accused....