Manipur cops hunt for missing fraud

Imphal, Aug. 7: Manipur police are searching for a man from Kerala named Jose Thomas, who is suspected to be a fraud, after he was found missing from his room in an Imphal hotel this morning, leaving behind two of his female companions.

Jose apparently fled the hotel following an investigation by the police into his activities after a complaint by the state social welfare department.

The department lodged the complaint when Jose started recruiting people as “social workers” with the promise of paying them Rs 25,000 per month for bringing at least 15 students seeking admission outside the state in courses like nursing, computer, engineering, hotel management and business management and also education loans.

Jose and the two women, from Bangalore and Kerala respectively, came to Imphal on July 21 and stayed at Classic Hotel, where the three held interviews for recruiting social workers to look for students seeking admission outside and education loans.

Jose claimed he was a representative of the Kerala-based Nehru Peace Foundation, which has an office in New Delhi. He told the candidates that the foundation would facilitate education loans from the Centre and also provide admission to well-known institutions in the north and south, one candidate, who was recruited as a social worker, told The Telegraph.

“We got suspicious of Jose’s activities. Officials of our department and police jointly met him to verify his credentials for two days beginning on July 5. We lodged a formal complaint at Imphal police station last night after he failed to prove his credentials,” K. Saroja Devi, probation officer of the social welfare department, told reporters today.

The police said the hotel informed them that Jose was missing.

However, the police and social welfare officials questioned the two women, who are still in the same hotel.

The social welfare officials believed the women could also be victims of fraud and their families were informed.

“We are investigating the matter and trying to find out whether the women are accomplices. We are also looking for Jose,” deputy inspector-general of police L. Kailun said.

The two women have not been arrested, but they are under close watch.

The police have also sealed the room where Jose stayed. He left documents and some personnel belongings at the hotel room.

All Manipur Students’ Union president Th. Suresh demanded that the government and the police should be more alert to prevent frauds operating in the state.