Bengal police arrests Gurgaon job firm staff

GURGAON: Three persons, including the manager of a Gurgaon-based recruitment firm and the general manager of a Singapore-based placement agency, were arrested by the enforcement branch of the Darjeeling police in West Bengal on Saturday. They were conducting a placement drive for domestic helps when the police barged in, suspecting that everything was not above board.They were charged with not having the requisite licence for carrying out the drive.
The accused have been identified as Sukhvinder Kaur, general manager of Singapore-based KOOSH placement agency and her husband Manjeet Singh, and Mohan Singh, manager of a Gurgaon-based firm Innovision Ltd. They were arrested from Sinclairs Hotel where interviews were supposed to take place. Sources said four Nepali residents were also arrested for assisting them.
Innovision placement agency, which has its main office on MG Road, was conducting a placement drive for its Singapore client. The Darjeeling police had registered a case under sections 41/102 (arrested under suspicion for verification of recruitment licence) of CrPC at the Pradhan Nagar police station in Siliguri.
The accused were released on interim bail on Sunday by the district magistrate court, which ordered the police to verify if the licences held by the employees were authentic. D P Singh, superintendent of police, Darjeeling, said, "They could not furnish valid licence papers. They did not have permission from the Protector General of Emigrants, Kolkata, for conducting the drive, which is mandatory."
The additional superintendent of police, Gaurav Sharma, said the police are verifying the credentials of the company.
Randeep Hundal, director of Innovision, however, rejected the claims of the Siliguri police and said that they needed no such permission for conducting placement interviews. He alleged that the Darjeeling police were heavy-handed and harassed them for no reason.
Hundal said, "As directed by the police, Sukhvinder and Mohan Singh produced all the photocopies of documents and recruiting licence. They also showed the listing of our licence number along with the company's name on the website of Protector of Emigrants. Police continued to detain our people saying that we have to produce the original licence."
He alleged that the Siliguri police went back on their promise and did not release the arrested persons even after they had faxed them the original licence verified by the Gurgaon police. Hundal said a few police officers also tried to intimidate the three by asking them to sign some papers without giving any reason.
Hundal added the magistrate had sought the clarifications regarding his company from the ministry of overseas Indian affairs, New Delhi, and Protector of Emigrants, Kolkata by July 15.