Two young women from Jiangsu Province have disappeared after going for a job interview in Shanghai.

Police in Zhabei District said the women, both 18, from Jurong, came to Shanghai for the interview on February 18.

The uncle of one of the women called his niece after he saw a recruitment notice on Hengfeng Bridge, near Shanghai Railway Station.

The uncle, Liang, a 55-year-old migrant resident, said he called his niece, Liang Li, after he saw the notice for Lipu Electronics Company in Pudong Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone.

She arrived in the city with her classmate Wang Yu on February 18.

A man named Liu, who said he was a headhunter for the company, picked up the women at the railway station and took them to the nearby Pucheng Hostel, where he had rented an apartment.

"My niece called the following day, saying the headhunters required them to submit deposits before introducing them to the job interview," Liang said.

He never saw the women again after giving them 600 yuan (US$72.30) on February 20 to pay the deposits.

"My niece made a call to me on February 21, saying they had arrived in Nanjing with Liu on the previous day," Liang said.

"She said Liu promised to help them find jobs in Nanjing and they would call soon to keep us informed of their new situation."

Neither her family in Jiangsu nor her uncle has heard from them since.

"Her parents are both poor farmers in rural areas. The two girls came to the city in the hope of finding a job," Liang said. "We are so anxious about them. Her parents almost went crazy."

He said an acquaintance had seen Liang Li in Nanjing several days ago.

Her family are looking for the women there while Liang stays in Shanghai to look for Liu, the headhunter, and his associates, who have also disappeared.

Zhong, a contractor who took over the Pucheng hostel three weeks ago, said the recruitment was a fraud.

"I was informed by local security officers the headhunters were suspected of defrauding migrant job-seekers for some time under the name of Lipu company, an entity which actually does exist in the city," Zhong said.

"We ordered them to move out of the apartment several days before Liang came to our place with the police to look for the girls." There is no suggestion the Lipu company is involved.

Police said they were still looking for the women but no criminal case of women trafficking had been established.

(eastday.com March 4, 2004)