Student' held for job fraud - Times of India - 22 Jun 2008

GURGAON: A three-member job racket gang, operating in Delhi and Bangalore, was busted on Friday with the arrest of a 22-year-old youth, who claimed to be a final-year MBA student of Delhi University. The accused, Vidyut K Panda, landed in Gurgaon police net after one of his victims, Amit Garg, lodged an FIR alleging that the former cheated him of Rs 2.9 lakh promising to get him a job in a reputed IT company in Bangalore. Panda had allegedly escorted Garg to Bangalore for a job "interview" over the telephone.

Panda has reportedly told the Gurgaon police that the gang included an HR manager of a major IT company in Bangalore. Investigators said that Amit, a resident of Sector-31 in Gurgaon, had uploaded his resume on a major job search portal. "His resume was accessed by Panda and he promised him to get a job and started striking a deal with him," said a senior police officer.

After winning his trust, Panda accompanied Garg to Bangalore in May and stayed there for a week. "All the expenses, including the stay at hotel, were borne by Amit. There he faced a telephonic interview with one Sohail Wani, who claimed himself to be the HR manager of an IT company at Bangalore. Later Amit was given an offer letter also but by then Panda had convinced him to pay Rs 2.9 lakh," said a senior police official.

But later, ACP (DLF) Sumit Kuhar said, the victim found the offer letter to be fake and approached the police. "Panda has claimed that Wani is the leader of the gang and they are assisted by one Bangalore-based Rahul Mallik. Now, we have to establish the credentials of Wani and Mallik. We will take the accused to Bangalore," the ACP said.

According to the police, Panda from Ganjam district in Orissa was staying in a rented accommodation in Ashram in south Delhi. He has reportedly told the cops that he was also running a career consultancy firm in the Capital.

"He has claimed that he is a student of Faculty of Management Studies (FMS) but we are cross checking it. " Kuhar said. But, FMS dean Prof J K Mitra denied that Panda was on the college rolls. "I don't recall anyone by that name studying in FMS even in past 10 years," he added.

Meanwhile, Kuhar said the investigation may throw light on the nexus between HR managers of major companies and fraudulent job consultancy firms. "We have also learnt a similar case was registered by Delhi police recently," he said.