NE NEWS SERVICE
AHMEDABAD, OCT 17
The Gujarat police on Saturday arrested a man for allegedly placing fake advertisements about jobs in local newspapers and collecting money from people as application fees, an official said.
Cybercrime officials nabbed Sandeep Pandya in connection with placing advertisements resembling those issued by the state government for openings in various departments, a release here stated.
On Friday, the state government had warned job aspirants not to fall prey to fake advertisements that appeared in local newspapers on October 15.
Subsequently, a case was registered under sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 419 and 420 (cheating), and relevant provisions of the Information Technology Act, an official said.
“Based on technical analysis, Pandya was found responsible for placing the advertisement and further probe is underway to track down others involved in the scam,” he said.
The probe is focussed on another accused in whose account around Rs 14 lakh has been collected, he added.
According to the police, the “advertisement for direct recruitment by Gujarat Employment Services” sought applications from job seekers between the ages of 18 and 50 for 2,520 vacancies for six posts like business development officers, customer service officers, district officers, computer operator, etc, on an 11-month contract.
Applicants were asked to fill a form on the website www.gujarates.co.in and deposit Rs 300 as an application fee for jobs that came with the incentive of work from home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the police said.
