August 16, 2024: Bengaluru based startup Saarthi AI conducted mass layoffs last year in a bid to become profitable, and has allegedly withheld the salaries of several employees since March 2023.

After the mass layoffs, the CEO of Saarthi AI claims a former employee stole his passport which had a US visa.

Saarthi AI founder and CEO Vishwa Nath Jha told the news in July that the company had been forced to let go of some employees to become profitable. He blamed ‘investor pressure’ for the layoffs.

Jha claimed that a senior employee stole his passport, and that is preventing him from travelling abroad to raise fresh capital for the troubled firm.