In a shocking case of fraud, a fake contractor and his supervisor have been arrested for allegedly duping around 400 sanitation workers of a staggering ₹4 crore. The accused, identified as Simal Khairwal of Mohali and Rohit of Chandigarh, ran a company called “Ultimate Manpower Housekeeping” that promised unsuspecting workers jobs with the Chandigarh Municipal Corporation (MC).
The scam came to light after one of the victims, Sumit Kumar from Maloya, filed a complaint with the police. Kumar alleged that Khairwal had convinced him that his company had a contract with the MC for park cleaning and demanded a ₹1 lakh bribe to secure him a job with a monthly salary of ₹16,500. Seeing other workers in similar uniforms nearby, Kumar was convinced and took a loan to pay the bribe. However, he never received any salary and later discovered he was not the only one targeted.
Evidence showed that Khairwal has been for the last one year extorting cash from those looking for jobs, between 50k-100k . The gang was arrested by police and it is alleged that the money used in the scam was amassed from selling cars , plots of land and also cash.
The accused deployed these workers for sanitation tasks in various areas, including parks and roads. However, authorities clarified that these areas were not under the MC’s jurisdiction and the uniforms were not issued by the corporation. The MC has denied awarding any contracts to “Ultimate Manpower Housekeeping” and has assured a thorough investigation. Mayor Kuldeep Kumar Dhalor has vowed strict action against any MC official found involved or negligent in this case.
This is the third such sanitation worker fraud case reported in Chandigarh this month. Earlier in May, a fake NGO representative and a manpower agency were also caught duping sanitation workers of lakhs of rupees. These incidents highlight the vulnerability of sanitation workers who are often targeted by unscrupulous individuals.
