Chennai, Dec 26 (IANS): The southern regional office of the All India Council for Technical Education (AICTE) has lodged a complaint with the Tamil Nadu Police against a gang conducting recruitment tests and interviews for various posts in the statutory body.

M. Sundaresan, the AICTE southern regional officer, told the media that the fraudsters were conducting recruitment tests and later interviews in five-star hotels.

He said that he has complained to the police about a test and subsequent interview that had taken place a few days ago. On Sunday, one more interview took place at a five-star hotel in Chennai.

The AICTE came to know about the scam after several enquiries had come regarding the posting order and other formalities, with most of the aspirants convinced that the AICTE had directly conducted the recruitment.

Most of the candidates, who had fallen into the trap, were youth from economically weaker sections and hailed from rural areas of the state like Thiruvannamalai, Salem, Madurai, Kancheepuram and Vellore districts.

Sources in the AICTE told IANS that while there are only 13 sanctioned posts in AICTE, Chennai, the scamsters were announcing 18 vacancies in each district of the state, and tests were conducted in various parts of the state. The aspirants were directed to clean shave and trim their nails properly before appearing for the interview.

To make the scam look like a genuine one, the fraudsters used the logo of AICTE and the AICTE officials have informed the police that scamsters may be collecting the bank details to collect money from the aspirants. The officials requested the police to immediately intervene and prevent the job aspirants from losing money.