Rajkot: Hitesh Chauhan , a 28-year-old man from Ahmedabad, was arrested last week by Porbandar police for cheating more than 250 women under the guise of providing training under the central government’s Skill India scheme. Three FIRs had been registered against him at different police stations across Porbandar district over the past two months. Chauhan’s modus operandi was to promise young women training classes on running beauty parlours and on computers, collecting discounted fees claiming that the govt would cover the remaining fees under the Skill India programme.
He would then vanish with the collected money without paying the rent for premises or the salaries of the recruited trainers. The first FIR, filed by Heena Hingraljia at Kamlabaug police station on June 12, included the signatures of 80 victims. Chauhan had advertised the beauty parlour training classes on social media, promising a kit, a certificate, and monthly scholarships upon completion of the three-month course.
Candidates were required to pay a monthly fee of Rs 500 and provide copies of their Aadhaar card and bank passbook. Three months passed and no scholarships were received and the recruited teachers were not paid their promised salaries either. Chauhan first gave the teachers and candidates excuses and later stopped responding to their calls.
The second FIR, filed by Poonam Gohel at Kirti Mandir police station on July 13, revealed that Chauhan had cheated around 104 girls in two classes using th.