Criminal psychologist grills Odisha IFS officer’s son in job scam
BHUBANESWAR: A criminal psychologist has interrogated Akash Pathak, son of suspended Indian Forest Service (IFS) officer Abhay Kant Pathak, in the Crime Branch office connection with the high profile job scam. Akash is accused of impersonating himself as a senior officer of Tata Motors and taking crores of rupees from several youths by promising them jobs in the company.
Akash and his father Abhay Kant, who was the additional principal chief conservator of forests (plan, programme & afforestation) in the state, were arrested by the state vigilance directorate on November 27 on charges of amassing huge disproportionate assets. The crime branch had taken Akash on five-day police remand on December 11 for interrogation in connection with the job fraud.
“We took the help of the criminal psychologist to understand Akash’s state of mind. We suspected Akash could be suffering from delusion or any other psychological problems. Tata Motors already denied Akash as their employee or ex-employee. Despite being exposed, Akash had been claiming he was with Tata,” a crime branch officer said.
The probe agency said the interrogation by the psychologist has paid off. “Akash has started telling us about his modus operandi. He wanted to show off with the false claim of being a top Tata officer. He acted as a street smart person and behaved as if he worked with Tata Motors. He used to derive pleasure by doing so. His intention was to cheat people,” the officer added.
Akash, who did his mechanical engineering from a private college here, had allegedly given fake appointment letters to several youths by offering them jobs of graduate engineer and management trainee in Tata Motors. He offered them salaries ranging between Rs 7 lakh and Rs 8 lakh per annum. Akash allegedly took nearly Rs 6 lakh from each duped job aspirant on the pretext of inducting them into Tata Motors. Gopalpur MLA Pradeep Panigrahy allegedly worked as a conduit for Akash. Panigrahy, whose daughter was set to marry Akash this month, is currently in judicial custody after being arrested by the crime branch on December 3.
“We will take Panigrahy on remand after gathering further evidence against him. We have also urged the duped youths to come forward and lodge complaints against Akash and Panigrahy,” the officer said.