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A fake recruitment drive allegedly drew hundreds of aspirants as a computer engineer, along with another accomplice, created a hoax website of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) that replicated government logos and layouts to look authentic.
The duo even conducted a written test, according to police, and planned to conduct interviews where they allegedly wanted to take bribes while luring candidates with lucrative government jobs — but the job racket was busted before they could lay the final trap, said officers.
Identified as Piyush (25), a B Tech (Computer Science) graduate who developed the website, and Kuldeep (30), a resident of Jaipur with a B Com degree and currently pursuing LLB, the accused have been arrested, the Delhi Police said on Saturday.
“The website replicated official government logos, layouts, and formats to look deceptively similar to a government recruitment site, leaving applicants with little reason to doubt its authenticity,” Vinit Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Operations (IFSO), said. On the website, the duo allegedly advertised vacancies, including seven for the post of curator and 84 for the post of junior assistant with the ASI.
They allegedly shared posts widely on social media on college student groups, online forums, and messaging platforms, attracting hundreds of aspirants, said police.
After they drew the interest of so many aspirants, the duo then allegedly shortlisted around 150 candidates and conducted a written examination at a reputed examination centre in Jaipur —where government exams were held in the past, the DCP said.
He added that the test followed standard government examination protocols, including seating arrangements and question paper formats.
The accused selected the candidates after scrutiny of their family and financial backgrounds, with an intention of extorting large sums of money during the interview stage, according to police.
They had planned to declare nearly 50% of the candidates as “successful” in the written examination and subsequently call them for interviews.
The interview stage was intended to be the final trap, during which selected candidates would be covertly asked to pay hefty bribes in exchange for “guaranteed clearance” and final appointment letters for the purported government posts.
Acting on intelligence inputs, the IFSO Unit, under the supervision of ACP Vijay Gahlawat and led by Inspector Kuldeep Kumar, apprehended both accused before the interview stage could start, preventing large-scale financial losses to innocent job seekers, police said.
During the arrests, police recovered two mobile phones, a laptop, a desktop computer, an iPad, a tablet, and passbooks.
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