Bengaluru:Promises of lucrative engineering jobs at leading multinational companies allegedly turned into a nightmare for several job aspirants after a placement firm conducted fake recruitment drives, collected money in the name of examinations, and allegedly failed to provide jobs or refunds.Prahudev GE, a final-year MTech student at University Visvesvaraya College of Engineering (UVCE), filed a complaint against Infosquare Global Solutions Pvt Ltd, alleging that the firm cheated him and several other unemployed candidates by offering fake placement opportunities.Prahudev said he received a call from a woman claiming to represent the firm, informing him about openings for mechanical design engineer positions at reputed companies and inviting him to attend a recruitment drive at the firm’s Marathahalli office the next day.She asked him to fill out a form and submit his details before appearing for the interview. When Prahudev reached the company’s office on July 4, director Pawan Gopal collected his resume and explained the recruitment process.Prahudev alleged that the company offered two packages, charging candidates Rs 1,000 or Rs 2,000 to appear for a recruitment examination. They were allegedly assured multiple attempts to clear the test, followed by interviews with reputed companies. Candidates were also promised refunds if they failed the examination.Believing the offer to be genuine, Prahudev paid Rs 2,000 through a QR code provided by the company. He was then asked to take two multiple-choice examinations along with around 15 to 20 other candidates.’A few days later, the company emailed Prahudev informing him that he had failed the examination and asked him to appear for a retest on July 11. However, when he reached the office on the scheduled date, Pawan allegedly told him that no examination would be conducted and that the company would not provide him a job.When Prahudev sought a refund of the examination fee as promised, the company allegedly refused and threatened him with consequences if he continued to demand the money. Prahudev later contacted several other candidates who claimed they too had paid money to the company after being promised jobs at reputed firms but received neither employment nor refunds.Based on his complaint, HAL Police registered a case against Pawan on charges of cheating, criminal intimidation and other relevant offences. Police have visited the firm, collected documents related to its licence from the concerned authorities and are investigating further.
