Thane: Nine persons, including four members of a family, were booked in Kalyan in Thane district for allegedly cheating job aspirants of Rs 74.40 lakh, a police official said on Friday.

The other five accused are believed to be railway personnel, among them a medical officer, the MFC police station official said.

Senior Inspector Dyaneshwar Sable identified one of the accused as Kalyan-resident Anant Ballal, who promised the complainant a railway job.

"As per the complainant, Ballal, along with his wife and two children, took money from him between January and May this year but the promised job never materialised. Ballal also got the complainant to meet several persons, who the former claimed were railway officials helping to expedite the process," the official said.

"He even provided the complainant a fake appointment letter and showed him fabricated emails. We believe the accused have taken Rs 74.4 lakh from the complainant and other job seekers in Roha in Raigad and other places. We are probing if those the complainant met are indeed railway officials or imposters," the official said.

A case of cheating, forgery and other offences has been registered but no arrest has been made, Sable informed.