Fake 'Airport Authority of India' Job Offers: Mumbai Police Bust a Dehradun Call Centre, 11 Arrested
Mumbai police busted a Dehradun call centre that scammed jobseekers with fake Airport Authority of India job offers. 11 arrested, ₹2.58 lakh taken from one victim.
Breaking: Mumbai Police have busted a fake call centre in Dehradun, Uttarakhand that lured jobseekers with bogus offers of employment at the Airport Authority of India (AAI), arresting 11 people. Victims were promised jobs at Mumbai Airport's Terminal 2 by callers posing as AAI HR recruiters, then squeezed for a series of "fees" and left with nothing. The Mankhurd Police Station team traced the money to bank accounts in Dehradun and raided the operation.
Primary source: Mankhurd Police Station, Mumbai (Maharashtra), Crime No. CRI 94/2026.
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At a glance
What happened
According to the Mankhurd Police Station, between 24 January and 16 February 2026 a complainant was lured with the promise of a job at Mumbai Airport Terminal 2 by a person pretending to be an HR recruiter for the Airport Authority of India. Under various pretexts, the callers extracted a total of ₹2,58,420. No job ever materialised. A case was registered and a special team traced the operation to Dehradun, Uttarakhand, where it found an organised fake call centre running the job-offer racket. Eleven people were arrested and produced before the court, and the investigation is continuing.
How the fake-job scam worked
The scam follows a pattern that has drained thousands of Indian jobseekers. Callers pose as recruiters for a well-known, trusted employer, here a government body, the AAI, and dangle a secure, well-paid posting at a prestigious location such as an airport terminal. Once the target is hooked, the "fees" begin: registration charges, security deposits, medical or training costs, uniform or ID charges, each with an official-sounding justification and a deadline. Every payment is followed by another demand, and the promised appointment letter never comes. Because the recruiter sounds professional and the employer is real, victims keep paying long past the point they would normally stop.
How police traced them
Investigators followed the money. The amounts the complainant paid were traced to accounts at Kotak Mahindra Bank and the Central Bank of India. Technical analysis of those accounts and the mobile numbers linked to them placed the operators in Dehradun, Uttarakhand. A Mankhurd Police Station team travelled there, verified that an organised fake call centre was running from the location, and moved in. Officers seized 13 mobile phones, laptops and the full call-centre setup used to run the fraud.
The charges
The case, Crime No. CRI 94/2026 at Mankhurd Police Station, was registered under Sections 3(5), 316(2) and 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023, and Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act. (The police note refers to these as “IPC” sections, but the Indian Penal Code was replaced by the BNS on 1 July 2024, so cases registered now are charged under the BNS.) In broad terms, BNS 318 covers cheating, 316 criminal breach of trust and 3(5) acts done by several people with common intention; IT Act 66C covers identity theft and 66D covers cheating by personation using a computer resource, the legal core of an impersonation scam like this one. The investigation into the money trail and any wider network is ongoing.
Who was arrested
The following 11 people were named by police. All are accused and under investigation; an arrest is not a conviction, and each is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
| # | Name | Age | Home area |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Vinoto Yeptho | 26 | Dimapur, Nagaland |
| 2 | Achumlo Martha Shitiri | 27 | Wokha, Nagaland |
| 3 | Maither Khempray | 27 | Dimapur, Nagaland |
| 4 | Santosh Limbu | 24 | Dimapur, Nagaland |
| 5 | Babul Hoje | — | Kapashera, Delhi |
| 6 | Abemo | — | Wokha, Nagaland |
| 7 | Prashant R. Rajput | 30 | Ahmedabad, Gujarat |
| 8 | Kunal Naben | 23 | Dimapur, Nagaland |
| 9 | Dethar Haflongbar | 32 | Dimapur, Nagaland |
| 10 | Kika Yeptho | 21 | Dimapur, Nagaland |
| 11 | Aakash Singh | 28 | Jalaun, Uttar Pradesh |
How to spot a fake government-job offer
- Real government jobs never ask for money. The AAI and other government bodies do not charge registration, security-deposit, training or "confirmation" fees to give you a job. Any recruiter asking for payment is a fraud.
- Verify on the official website. AAI recruitment is announced only through official notifications on aai.aero. Check the vacancy there before believing any call, email or message.
- Be suspicious of unsolicited offers. A job you never applied for, offered by phone or on WhatsApp with an urgent deadline, is the classic setup.
- Watch the escalating "fees." Once you pay one charge, another appears. That endless sequence is the scam, not a process. Stop at the first payment request.
- Don't share documents or OTPs. Aadhaar, PAN, bank details and one-time passwords handed to a "recruiter" enable identity theft and further fraud.
If you have been scammed
- Call 1930 (the national cyber-fraud helpline) as soon as possible, so the money trail can be frozen.
- File a complaint at cybercrime.gov.in with the numbers, accounts, screenshots and payment details.
- Tell your bank immediately to flag the transactions and the beneficiary accounts.
- Keep every record. Chat logs, call numbers, UPI or transfer receipts and the "offer letter" are all evidence.
Frequently asked questions
Does the Airport Authority of India recruit through phone calls? No. AAI hires only through official notifications on aai.aero and never asks candidates to pay a recruiter for a job.
Where was the call centre? In Dehradun, the capital of the Indian state of Uttarakhand. (In the source note "UK" is the abbreviation for Uttarakhand, not the United Kingdom.)
How much was stolen? The complainant in this case lost ₹2,58,420; police seized 13 phones, laptops and the call-centre setup, and the wider money trail is under investigation.
Are the 11 people guilty? No. They are accused and under investigation. An arrest is not a conviction, and everyone is presumed innocent until a court decides otherwise.
How do I check if a job offer is real? Confirm the vacancy on the employer's official website, never pay any fee, and treat any unsolicited offer with an urgent payment demand as a scam.
Source
Based on the press note of Mankhurd Police Station, Mumbai (Maharashtra), Crime No. CRI 94/2026. Names, ages, locations and figures are as stated by police; the accused are under investigation and presumed innocent unless convicted.
If you have been targeted by a job or impersonation scam, you are not alone. See our cybercrime help hub for step-by-step reporting and recovery guides.