2008-2009: Engineering graduate Ajay Kolla starts Wisdom Jobs in Hyderabad and turns the Dh200,000 start-up into multi-billion empire.
2010-2013: The company’s annual turnover increases from Dh4.19 million in 2012 to Dh11.5 million in 2013.
2016: India’s biggest apex trade association, the Associated Chambers of Commerce and Industry, puts Wisdom Jobs in the country’s top SME 50 Index.
2017: Wisdom jobs prides itself as the world’s first skill assessment based portal with 33 million registered users worldwide.
2018: The company claims tie-ups with 35,000 ‘top-notch companies’ even as complaints pour in.
Dec 2018-Jan 2019: Gulf News investigates and finds that most employment opportunities listed on the portal are either fake, outdated or copied from other job portals.
Jan 20: Gulf News publishes detailed report of its probe.
Jan 20: Scores more victims say how they were duped.
Jan 21: Hyderabad police orders probe and requests Gulf News to share evidence.
Jan 25: CEO Ajay Kolla and 13 others arrested and remanded to judicial custody.
— M.F.
