Fake Wipro job racket busted,4 held

A job racket where 37 unemployed youth paid Rs 1.8 lakh each to a HR consultancy firm after being tricked into believing that they had got lucrative jobs at an IT firm,Wipro Ltd,has been busted following the arrest of four persons.

The investigation on the basis of a complaint referral made by the technology firm has revealed that the con artistes used a placement agency called Lotus Consultancy,headed by a woman from Coimbatore,Sathyapriya,to lure youths to fake job interviews at Wipro. Prospective candidates were convinced into coughing up money for jobs in Wipro through an elaborate plan where they were sent to meet the mastermind of the racket,Rajiv Ranjan,a native of Patna,on Wipros main campus at Bangalore. Ranjan 30 gained access to Wipros main campus here with a valid vendor pass and the candidates were reportedly let into the campus with guest passes available to vendors. Posing as the managing director of the company,Ranjan conducted interviews at a guest room on the campus before making fake job offers.

The victims found out that they were conned when they contacted the company later with the offer letters.

Along with Ranjan,who has a string of fraud and cheating cases against him,the police have arrested Sathyapriya 25 and two others,Mohammed Azhar 25 from Hyderabad and M N Narayana 29 from Bangalore.

Following the arrests, the police have seized Rs 58 lakh,including Rs 44 lakh in cash,apart from vehicles and forged Wipro documents from the suspects.

Bangalore Commissioner of Police Jyothi Prakash Mirji said Wipro employees were not involved in the racket in any way.

The racket was in operation for over three years and 37 victims have been identified, said Dr P S Harsha,Deputy Commissioner of Police for the south east division of Bangalore.