Bhubaneswar: Odisha Police arrested three persons, including two serving Navy personnel, in Khurda district on the charge of extorting money from Agniveer aspirants during a recruitment drive in November 2024, an officer said on Friday. The arrested persons were identified as Satyam Chahar, currently working at INS Kesari, Andaman and Nicobar, Vinay Kumar Ray, presently posted at INS Chilika and retired Navy official Bhoosan, a resident of Uttar Pradesh, the officer said. The trio were arrested based on a complaint lodged by Lieutenant Commander Adwitiya Singh, a training correspondence officer at INS Chilka, at Balugaon police station on April 19. The case was registered under charges of cheating

and extortion.

In a statement, INS Chilka claimed that the Indian Navy’s proactive approach foils recruitment malpractice attempts. “During routine surveillance operations coinciding with the ongoing Agniveer recruitment process, INS Chilka detected suspicious activity indicating a possible monetary demand from a candidate,” it said.

Based on the indication, actions were taken promptly and the Navy surveillance team identified a potential suspect and shared the intelligence with Odisha police authorities of Balugaon police station. “Based on this input, the police successfully apprehended the accused. The Indian Navy is extending full cooperation to the police in the ongoing investigation,” the Navy said. Khurda SP Sagarika Nath, who is monitoring the case, said the arrested trio was accused of extorting a huge amount of money from Agniveer aspirants by promising them assistance in police verification, physical examination and securing a job. “We have arrested three persons and are in search of two others allegedly involved in the scam. Hope to nab the remaining two soon,” Nath said, adding that the police have informed the Navy to verify whether any candidate fraudulently got recruited as Agniveer.

The SP said police have seized several transaction proofs and bank documents during the course of their investigation. “Preliminary investigation revealed that the accused had been collecting huge money from job seekers with false promises of getting them employment in the Navy. Further investigation is in progress to ascertain the exact network of the scam.

She said police have also seized some transaction proofs and bank documents during the course of their investigation. “As per intelligence inputs, two more persons are suspected to be involved in the racket. Police have so far frozen 12 bank accounts linked to the fraudulent activities,” the SP said.

The police also said that the accused persons were part of various social media groups such as WhatsApp and Telegram to clear doubts of the candidates regarding the documentation process for recruitment and to help regarding enrolment as trainees.

“They got in touch with various candidates who were in the recruitment process including the induction process and extorted and cheated money from them on the pretext of helping them pass the recruitment examination,” the police said. The police have also seized four mobile phones from the arrested accused persons.