Two firm directors held for duping 100 freshers with bogus IT job offers

Pune: Two directors of a private firm were arrested on Wednesday on the charge of promising jobs to about 100 freshers in the IT sector in lieu of money and cheating them.A court remanded the arrested duo — Amol Balasaheb Mahadik and Omkar Dadaso Mahadik, both directors of Accure Softtech Pvt Ltd set up in 2023 — in five-day police custody. Senior inspector Balaji Pandhare of the Hinjewadi police said this was the second incident of freshers seeking jobs being duped in the IT hub in the past few months.An IT training and placement firm officials were booked in August last year for duping 400 freshers seeking jobs using the same trick in Hinjewadi.Amol and Omkar, the firm directors arrested on Wednesday, allegedly took Rs50,000 to Rs2,00,000 from each candidate from different parts of the state, including districts in Vidarbha, Marathwada and western Maharashtra, on the promise of jobs in Hinjewadi IT Park firms. According to the FIR, the victims were issued offer letters and initially employed under the work-from-home arrangement. They were promised placements in prominent IT companies after working for a few months.The police said the company, Accure Softtech Pvt Ltd, allegedly stopped paying the victims after a month. This made them realise they were cheated.A 23-year-old youth from Latur district stated in the FIR registered on Wednesday that he was promised an internship stipend of Rs15,000 per month, but was not paid anything even after working for three months. He alleged that no work was assigned to him on the pretext that the company had no new project. He had paid Rs 1.5 lakh to the accused through online transfers for placement.The FIR mentioned four more victims. Two of them allegedly paid Rs2 lakh each, one paid Rs50,000 and the other Rs80,000.Senior police inspector Pandhare said, "The company involved in the latest case was operating out of a 500sqft shop. The entire recruitment process was conducted online and the work-from-home option was offered to aspirants to avoid physical meetings."Pandhare said more job fraud victims were likely to come forward in the coming days. He advised job seekers to verify details of companies offering employment to avoid falling prey to such cons.Pavanjeet Mane of the Forum for IT Employees said the organisation was spreading awareness among job seekers and IT employees to prevent them from falling prey to scams. "During the recent meeting with the labour minister, we suggested routing every offer letter issued to freshers through the labour department so that aspirants are not cheated," he said.