Notice issued to private firm in Gujarat for chaos at job interview site
Bharuch (PTI): A notice has been issued to a private firm days after nearly 800 persons turned up for walk-in interviews organised by it for 40 vacancies, triggering chaos at the venue in Gujarat’s Bharuch district, an official said on Saturday.
Videos of a massive queue, marked by pushing and shoving as aspirants tried to get a toehold on a ramp leading to the entrance of a hotel where the interviews were being held, had gone viral on Thursday on social media.
On July 2, the company at Jhagadia conducted a recruitment drive at a hotel in Ankleshwar in the district where hundreds of aspirants turned up for 40 vacancies, District Employment Officer Sanjay Gohil said.
“After the video went viral, we learnt about the incident and talked to the plant manager and HR managers of the company and carried out an inspection of the plant on July 12,” he said.
The company had not informed the employment office in advance regarding the notified vacancies, he said.
“We checked the record and issued notice to the company. The district administration needs to be informed in advance so that such a situation does not arise,” Gohil said.
The stampede-like situation occurred due to mismanagement at the recruitment drive venue which caused the collapse of the railing of the ramp, leading to several job-seekers falling off.
The incident, which took place on Tuesday, triggered a verbal duel between the opposition Congress and the ruling BJP.
While the Congress said it had exposed the ‘Gujarat Model’ (of development the ruling party talks about), the BJP said the former was trying to defame the state through the video.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi shared the video on microblogging platform X.
“The ‘disease of unemployment’ has taken the form of an epidemic in India, and BJP-ruled states have become the ‘epicentre’ of this disease. The ‘future of India’ jostling in queues for a common job is the reality of Narendra Modi’s ‘Amritkal’,” Gandhi tweeted in Hindi.
As per the police, the company had arranged walk-in interviews for nearly 40 vacancies in five different roles.
The company booked a hall in a hotel in Ankleshwar expecting some 150 candidates. However, 800 turned up and company officials had to shut the door of the interview hall to control the crowd, which led to the situation shown in the video, Bharuch Superintendent of Police Mayur Chavda had said on Thursday.
No one was injured in the melee and no complaint had come to the police in this regard, Chavda added.
Hitting back at Congress, the BJP said on X, “Efforts to defame Gujarat are being made through a viral video from Ankleshwar. The advertisement for the walk-in interview clearly states they require experienced candidates. This implies those attending the interview are already employed elsewhere. Therefore, the notion of these individuals being unemployed is baseless.”
Spreading negativity about Gujarat was a tactic of the Congress, the BJP added.
As per the advertisement, the company was to fill vacancies of shift in-charge, plant operator, supervisor-CDS, fitter-mechanical and executive-ETP at its new plant in the Jhagadia industrial area.
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3 Indians arrested in Canada for shooting outside home
Ottawa (PTI): Three Indian nationals have been arrested by Canadian police on an anti-extortion patrol and charged after bullets were fired at a home.
Harjot Singh (21), Taranveer Singh (19) and Dayajeet Singh Billing (21) face one count each of discharging a firearm, and all have been remanded in custody until Thursday, the Surrey Police Service (SPS) said in a statement on Monday.
The suspects were arrested by patrol officers after an early morning report of shots fired and a small fire outside a home in Surrey's Crescent Beach neighbourhood, the LakelandToday reported.
On February 1, 2026, the SPS members were patrolling in Surrey’s Crescent Beach neighbourhood when reports came in of shots being fired and a small fire outside a residence near Crescent Road and 132 Street.
The three accused were arrested by SPS officers a short time later, the statement said.
SPS’s Major Crime Section took over the investigation, and the three men have now been charged with Criminal Code offences, it said.
All three have been charged with one count each of discharging a firearm into a place contrary to section 244.2(1)(a) of the Criminal Code.
The investigation is ongoing, and additional charges may be forthcoming. All three have been remanded in custody until February 5, 2026.
The SPS has confirmed they are all foreign nationals and has engaged the Canada Border Services Agency, it said.
One of the suspects suffered injuries, including two black eyes, the media report said.
Surrey police Staff Sgt. Lindsey Houghton said on Monday that the suspect had refused to comply with instructions to get out of the ride-share vehicle and started to "actively resist."
"As we were trained, he was taken to the ground and safely handcuffed," said Houghton.
A second suspect with a black eye was also injured in the arrest after refusing to comply, Houghton said.
The arresting officers were part of Project Assurance, an initiative that patrols neighbourhoods that have been targeted by extortion violence.
Houghton said the Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA) is also involved because the men are foreign nationals, and the trio may face additional charges.
It's not clear if the men are in the country on tourist visas, a study permit, or a work permit, but Houghton said CBSA has started its own investigation into the men's status.
Surrey has seen a number of shootings at homes and businesses over the last several months, but there's been an escalation since the new year.
