Mumbai: Wife gets anticipatory bail in cash-for-job scam

The Bombay High Court has granted anticipatory bail to a woman in a case where her husband has been arrested for duping people in a cash-for-job scam.

Justice Bharti Dangre granted pre-arrest bail to Swati Sonkar on July 1 and directed that, in case of arrest, she be released against a personal bond of Rs 25,000.

On October 3, 2021, an FIR was registered by one Minakshi Bhatade with the Andheri police station against Swati and her husband Rahul Sonkar for cheating and forgery.

Bhatade alleged that Sonkars duped her of Rs 15,000 on the pretext of getting a job. Swati allegedly contacted Bhatade and guided her to her husband. Sonkar then asked for her documents for verification and directed her to make a payment of Rs 15,000 for the purpose of training as well as opening an account for salary.

Later, when Bhatade questioned Sonkar about the training and the job, it was found to not exist at all. She alleged that the husband then demanded sexual favours from her. The police added charges of stalking Sonkar.

During the course of the investigation, police recorded statements of other persons who were duped by Sonkars in a similar manner.

The prosecutor informed the HC that Sonkar was arrested and a charge sheet was already filed against him.

The charge sheet revealed that all the victims paid the money to Sonkar. Also, the police recovered all the documents from Sonkar which had been confiscated. Even the bank account has been frozen.

“In the wake of the above, since the main accused has been arrested and the investigation is complete, the custodial interrogation of the applicant is not necessary as the material against her is already included in the charge-sheet,” noted Justice Dangre while granting her pre-arrest bail.

The court has, however, directed her to cooperate with the investigation and report to the police station on a regular basis.