Kasaragod: DYFI leader Sachitha Rai, booked for duping a jobseeker of Rs 15 lakh by promising her a clerk position at the Central Plantation Crops Research Institute (CPCRI), said she was also a victim of the fraud.

She said she gave the money to Chandrasekhara Kuntar, who runs Personnel Search Point, a placement service provider in Udupi, but he failed to keep his promise.

Rai told Onmanorama that several other jobseekers have also routed their money to Kuntar through her. "He claimed he would get them placed," said Rai, oblivious to the illegality of paying agents to secure government jobs.

Rai teaches in a government-aided lower primary school at Badoor in Kasaragod's Puthige grama panchayat and has been an active member of DYFI, the CPM's youth wing. Until 10 days ago, she was a member of the DYFI's Kasaragod District Committee. She was officially dropped from the committee because she moved to Kozhikode, her husband's place, on maternity leave. Till last year, she was the state committee member of Balasangam, the children's wing of the CPM, and the district committee member of All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA), the women's wing of the CPM.

On Sunday, October 6, Kumbla Police booked Rai under Section 420 of IPC (cheating) based on a complaint from Nishmitha Shetty (24), a native of Kidhur village, 20km from Kasaragod town. She transferred Rs 15,05,796 to Rai via bank and GPay in several tranches between May 31 and August 23, 2023. Shetty said she gave the money by pledging her gold jewellery and borrowing from her husband because she was promised a clerk's position at Kasaragod's CPCRI, a research institute under the Union Ministry of Agriculture. Rai, however, said she only received Rs 13 lakh.

Shetty said on top of the money she paid to secure a job with CPRCI, she also paid service tax to Rai. "Sachitha asked for Rs 5,000 as GST, and I transferred that also to her account," said Shetty, an undergraduate.

Sachitha Rai said she offered Nishmitha Shetty a cheque from Kuntar on the money she gave him as a guarantee. "But she said it was not needed," said Rai.

Unlike Shetty, Rai said all the money she gave to Kuntar was in cash. "But I have a cheque from him," she said.

Kumbla Police said Rai has a cheque of Rs 72 lakh from Kuntar as a guarantee. An investigating officer said she received around Rs 2 crore from various people, but the cheque implied she gave Kuntar only Rs 72 lakh.

Sachitha Rai said she was introduced to Kuntar by a person in Manjeshwar. She did not reveal the contact's name or share Kuntar's details.

The phone numbers listed against Personnel Search Point, Udupi, on several classified websites, were not functioning. Rai also refused to share the details of those who gave her money to get jobs through Kuntar. As of now, only Nishmitha Shetty has complained, she said. "I still believe others will get jobs. They are in the queue (to get jobs)," Rai said.

Though she refused to share the details of Kuntar, she said she filed a complaint of cheating against him at Badiadka Police Station on September 29.

An officer at Badiadka Police Station refused to confirm receiving the complaint, saying it was confidential, but said no FIR had been registered on Rai's complaint.