A Pune IT company has allegedly left about 150 employees without four months of salary after abruptly shutting its Aundh office, with police registering a financial fraud case following complaints from 36 young engineers.
The case has been registered at Chaturshringi police station against Creative Web Solutions. Police are searching for company officials who allegedly left after the office was closed, according to the report. Other affected employees are also approaching the police, and their statements are being recorded.
According to the police information cited in the complaints, the company promised to place candidates in large IT firms and collected between Rs 1 lakh and Rs 3 lakh from each person under descriptions including security deposit, consultancy fees and training charges. The candidates were then brought into the company on the assurance that they would receive a stipend during training and employment with a larger IT company after completing it.
The employees allege that, after four months, the company neither paid their salaries nor arranged the promised jobs. Its office was then shut without notice. The affected workers have claimed that more than 150 people were defrauded and that the total amount involved could exceed Rs 13 crore, with some estimates putting it above Rs 14 crore. These figures are based on complaints and claims by the affected employees and will be subject to the police investigation.
The incident has emerged in Pune, a major IT employment centre, at a time when the technology sector is also witnessing concerns over job security and layoffs, according to the report. For the affected workers, the alleged fraud combines loss of employment with the loss of substantial upfront payments made while seeking entry into the IT industry.
The police case follows a series of complaints from young people who said they were offered jobs in IT companies. The report states that four or five similar employment-fraud cases have previously come to light in Pune. The current investigation is expected to establish the number of affected employees, the money collected, the role of the company officials and whether the promised placements were genuine.
Police are recording statements from additional employees who have come forward. The search for the company’s officials and the collection of further complaints remain the next stated steps in the case.
