Golam Sarwar Alam Siddique, a 24-year-old youth in Malda, was caught by surprise as he found his name in the final list of candidates who have been selected through an exam conducted for recruitment in a post of the state food & supplies department.

The reason: Golam didn’t appear in the exam.

On Saturday, he filed a police complaint, alleging a racket had indulged in malpractices by including the names of those who didn’t appear in the exam, in the final list of candidates for the post of food inspector.

Golam, a graduate, is from Malatipur near Chanchal. In 2017, he got introduced to Parimal Kundu, a resident of Nadia district, who used to work as a primary school teacher in Chanchal.

Later, though Kundu Left Chanchal, Golam had connections with him.

Earlier this month, Kundu told him over the phone that he would get a job of food inspector in the state food & supplies department if I pay ₹7 lakh. I told him that I didn’t even appear in the exam but he said he would arrange it,” said Golam.

Even though he turned down the “incredible” offer, Kundu kept on calling him and said that he would ensure that Golam’s name figures in the final list of candidates. The examination for this recruitment was conducted in 2018.

“He kept on contacting me and last week, he asked me to check the portal where the list of successful candidates appeared. Out of curiosity, I checked the portal and was surprised to see that my name, along with a roll number, was there in the portal as a successful candidate,” said Golam.

Since then, he has been receiving calls from Kundu and some other unknown callers, who are asking him to pay ₹7 lakh for the job.

“I have been told that once I pay the money, the appointment letter will be sent home. They even said they provided jobs in the same fashion to some others,” said the youth.

Chanchal police said they received the complaint.

Officials in the state food and supplies department said the exam was conducted by the state public service commission and they didn’t receive any list for the recruitment of any inspector in Malda district.