'Special 26'? Home Ministry cautions applicants against fake job openings with IB

NEW DELHI: The Intelligence Bureau (IB) has issued a public warning that fake jobs are being offered in the premier intelligence agency by certain unscrupulous elements and even fake appointment letters for jobs in IB have also been issued to some persons.

This seems straight out the plot of the Bollywood movie 'Special 26' in which a racket for fake jobs in CBI was portrayed.

"It has been noticed that some unscrupulous elements are fraudulently inviting applications for various posts in the Intelligence Bureau. Such elements are also alluring the aspirants appearing in various written examinations conducted by IB for providing assistance during the examination and are even issuing fake appointment letters to some of the candidates," the Home Ministry has said in a notice issued in public interest.

The Home Ministry has hence cautioned prospective candidates or job aspirants not to fall prey to the designs of such unscrupulous elements who are trying to dupe the unsuspecting aspirants for their personal gain. "The general public is hereby cautioned not to apply against such fraudulent advertisements," the Ministry has said.

It has also been pointed out that the recruitment in IB is done through the Union Public Service Commission, Staff Selection Commission and by holding dedicated All India recruitment examinations for some posts. "In all recruitment processes, the applications are invited online only through the portals of UPSC, SSC and MHA. There is no provision of offline / paper applications. The advertisements inviting online applications are also published in the Employment News and on the websites of UPSC, SSC and MHA respectively," the Ministry has said in its public notice.

The prospective candidates, applicants and job aspirants have thereby been advised not to follow fake and fraudulent advertisements published in other publications with names similar to Employment News or websites claiming to provide information about vacancies and competitive examinations. "The applications received against fraudulent advertisements or offline applications would neither be entertained nor will this office in any way be responsible for any such fraudulent activities," the Home Ministry has specified.