Rajkot: Gandhigram-2 (University) police registered a case against a man for allegedly duping a childhood friend and four others of Rs 16 lakh by promising them jobs in the Indian Air Force.According to the FIR, Arjunsingh Jadeja (40), a resident of Kalawad Road runs Shiv Travels. He received a call on June 8, from his childhood friend, Pragnesh Gadhvi. The two had not been in contact for at least 20 years. Gadhvi claimed he was working as a principal in the Air Force at Gandhinagar and offered to get Jadeja a job as a driver in exchange for money.Jadeja agreed and collected funds from relatives and acquaintances who also wanted jobs. Over the next two months, Rs 16 lakh was paid —with Rs 12.30 lakh via online transactions and Rs 3.70 lakh in cash — to the accused. This included payment from four of Jadeja’s acquaintances.Jadeja stated that to keep up the ruse, the accused sent a fake electronic call letter to him via WhatsApp. When no jobs materialized and Jadeja demanded the money back, the accused began making excuses.Jadeja eventually learned that Gadhvi had been detained by police in Ahmedabad in connection with another financial dispute. Realizing that Gadhvi had no connection to the Air Force and had forged the call letter, Jadeja approached police.Police booked Pragnesh Gadhvi for cheating, cheating by personation, forgery and personating a public servant.
