NEW DELHI: A job that paid in cash and demanded identity documents seemed unremarkable at the time. Years later, it would entangle a migrant worker from Bihar in financial transactions worth crores, drawing the attention of tax authorities across India and investigators from Delhi Police’s Economic Offences Wing.
A Job Offer That Seemed Routine
In April 2019, Karan Kumar Ram arrived in Delhi from Siwan, Bihar, like thousands of other young men searching for work in the capital. He found employment as a data entry operator at a footwear and watches manufacturing unit in north Delhi’s Inderlok area. The factory, according to his complaint, was run by a senior employee introduced to him through a neighbour back home.
The pay was modest — ₹15,000 a month — and the terms informal. Ram was asked to submit his PAN and Aadhaar cards, ostensibly to open a salary account. He complied. He says he was told a bank executive would complete the know-your-customer verification, but no account details were ever shared with him. When he asked, he was brushed aside and told he would be paid in cash anyway
Within three months, in December 2019, Ram was informed over the phone that his services were no longer required. He returned to Siwan and remained unemployed. At the time, he says, he had no reason to suspect that the documents he had handed over would follow him long after the job ended.
Notices From Afar
The first sign of trouble came more than three years later. In January 2023, Ram received a notice from the Income Tax Department’s Karnataka office, seeking explanations for financial transactions running into crores. More notices followed, from Gurugram in Haryana and later from his hometown in Bihar.
According to senior police officers, the notices referred to transactions of ₹48 crore in the 2020–21 financial year and ₹35.05 lakh in 2019–20, allegedly carried out by a company registered in Ram’s name. The scale of the figures bore no relation to his employment history or income.
Perplexed and alarmed, Ram approached the police in July this year, alleging that his identity had been misused. He told investigators that during his short stint at the factory, he had also been persuaded to change the residential address on his Aadhaar card — a detail that, in retrospect, appeared less innocuous.
How Identities Become Instruments
As investigators from the Economic Offences Wing began examining the complaint, a broader pattern emerged. Police say an organised syndicate appears to have used Ram’s identification documents to incorporate a company and conduct high-value financial transactions, without his knowledge or consent.
Such cases, officers note, often exploit the vulnerabilities of migrant and informal-sector workers, many of whom hand over personal documents as a routine requirement for employment. Once those documents are obtained, they can be used to open bank accounts, register firms and route funds, leaving the nominal “owner” exposed to legal and financial scrutiny.
In Ram’s case, the trail led across states and years, eventually triggering tax alerts that brought the alleged fraud to light. The police have not yet disclosed the name of the company involved or the full scope of transactions under scrutiny, citing the ongoing investigation.
From Complaint to Criminal Case
Initially, Ram lodged a complaint with the north district police in Delhi, seeking a thorough inquiry. The matter was later transferred to the Economic Offences Wing of the Delhi Police, which conducted a preliminary investigation.
Based on the evidence gathered, the EOW registered a first information report on December 24, invoking charges of cheating by impersonation, forgery and criminal conspiracy. Officers say arrests have been made of individuals allegedly involved in orchestrating the scheme, though details remain limited.
