Jobseekers beware, fake shipping agent is still on the prowl

Tamil Nadu, Kerala, West Bengal, U.P. students among victims

They completed their Bachelor of Nautical Science with dreams in their eyes and a loan on their shoulders. They then paid lakhs to a dubious employment agent, hoping to earn a good job on board a safe vessel. Their dreams are shattered today, some have even thought of committing suicide, even as the agent seems to continue running his racket with impunity.

“He is very shrewd. He knows that those staying in Mumbai will call his bluff soon and will make it difficult for him to operate. So he approaches only students like us who are from outside the city or the State. There are many students from Lucknow, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, and Kolkata who are still waiting in the hope that Pawan Brar will return their money. He probably knows well that it is difficult for us to identify the other victims. Forget our coming together, filing a complaint and following it up,” said 20-year-old Babu Raghavan from Chennai said.

He and his friends have completed B.Sc. (Nautical Science) from AMET University in Chennai.

Just last year Pawan Brar, believed to be in his 20s, was arrested by the Mumbai Police, along with his accomplice, for duping two students from Vellore in Tamil Nadu after sending an e-mail about fake job opportunities to their college. But he was released later. Read more..