PUNE: Police from Pimpri Chinchwad in Pune have arrested the CEO of a Noida-based IT firm over a month after the company's divisional branch office here was suddenly closed, rendering around 500 of its employees jobless, officials said on Wednesday.
The branch office of the company, ThynkTech India OPC Pvt Ltd, is located in Hinjawadi area. It was shut down on April 22 allegedly without any prior notice to employees, they said.
Based on a complaint, the IT firm's CEO Harshal Thakre was held in Nashik on Tuesday night by the Hinjawadi police. He was booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 316 (2) (criminal breach of trust), 318 (4) (cheating) and 3 (5) (common intention), an official said.
The management of the IT company is accused of withholding the employees' salaries, issuing dishonoured cheques and collecting funds for laptop security from the recruits, the police said.
"We have registered a case of cheating and criminal breach of trust charges against senior company officials. The accused (Thakre) was taken into custody from Nashik. We are verifying the reasons that led to the closure of the company. Investigation into the case is underway," senior inspector of Hinjawadi police station Balaji Pandhare said.
The statements of the affected workers are being recorded and the alleged financial fraud is also being probed, he said.
The employees of the company have submitted letters to the police and the Maharashtra Labour Commissioner's office, seeking intervention and recovery of pending dues.