Bhubaneswar, June 18: Police are browsing through emails of the Delhi-based consultancy firm, which had offered fake appointment letters to more than 400 students during a placement drive in the Institute of Technical Education and Research under the Siksha 'O' Anusandhan (SOA) University.

More than 400 students of the institute were provided with call letters and subsequently joining letters by the firm in nine companies through written test, group discussion and personal interview. In the last week of May, about 50 students even reached Gurgaon for joining, but the firm authority denied of conducting any such placement drive bringing the scam to light.

On May 26, the cops arrested additional dean (placement) of the university Raj Kumar Hota, and on June 2, Manas Ranjan Nayak, one of the main accused in the case, was held. But, the police are yet to arrest anyone from the Delhi-based fake consultancy firm.

"Member's of the firm don't use mobile phones, making it difficult for us to track their locations. They only communicate through emails," he said.

Earlier, the police said that about 10 persons from the fraud consultancy firm had been identified through photographs and video footages. A police source said the address and other details of a human resource person provided by the firm were false.

"A few phone numbers given by the firm were also fake. Under these circumstances, we have to depend on the emails, through which the consultancy used to communicate with the varsity authorities. We are screening the Internet Protocol addresses of the emails," said a police official. A police source said the firm was also involved in similar offences in other states, including Karnataka and Bihar.

Student leaders accused the police of shielding the varsity authorities and delaying the investigation process. "This is one of the major fraud cases involving students in the state in the recent times. It is hard to believe that the varsity's additional dean is involved in the scam, which involves crores of rupees. The case should be handed over to the crime branch," said state president of the National Students' Union of India, the Congress's student wing, Itish Kumar Pradhan.

Earlier, a varsity official said the consultancy had taken a hefty fee to recruit students. Deputy police commissioner Satyabrata Bhoi said they were trying to gather information about the firm. "This is an inter-state racket, and we have to be sure about their whereabouts before conducting raids. We are also trying to gather evidences for the investigation," said Bhoi.