The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested seven more accused including a head constable and constables of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), an Assistant Sub-Inspector of J&K Police, and two private persons in connection with an ongoing investigation of a case related to the infamous J&K Police Sub-Inspector recruitment scam.
Till now, CBI has arrested 20 persons and an amount worth Rs 61 lakhs has been recovered from the possession of arrested persons.
Reports said that sleuths of the CBI are going through the bank accounts of all the arrested persons to connect the dots before presenting a chargesheet in this high-profile case.
According to CBI, seven persons arrested on Thursday included Pawan Kumar, Amit Kumar Sharma, Atul Kumar, Sunil Sharma, (all CRPF) Jaisuriya Sharma, ASI, J&K Police, Tarsem Lal, a resident of Pathankot Punjab and Asheesh Yadav resident of Rewari Haryana. These seven persons were arrested in connection with the raids conducted by CBI sleuths on Tuesday in Jammu,
Sleuths of CBI on Tuesday conducted searches at seven locations in Jammu, Pathankot in Punjab, Rewari, and Karnal in Haryana in connection with this recruitment scam. As per reports, raids were conducted in three locations in Jammu and Pathankot and at one place in Karnal Haryana.
Out of 33 accused, 20 have been arrested so far
CBI had registered a case on 03.08.2022 on the request of the J&K Government against 33 accused including the then Medical Officer, BSF Frontier Hqrs, Paloura; then Member, JKSSB; then Under Secretary, the then Section Officer (both of JKSSB); ex-official of CRPF, ASI of J&K Police; owner of a coaching centre, Akhnoor; private company based at Bengaluru; private persons and unknown others in connection with this scam.
The written examination for the posts of Sub-Inspectors in the J&K Police was conducted by the J&K Services Selection Board (JKSSB) on 27.03.2022. The results were declared on 04.06.2022. There were allegations regarding malpractices in the examination.
The J&K Govt had constituted an Inquiry Committee to look into the same. It was alleged that the accused entered into conspiracy amongst officials of JKSSB, a Bengaluru-based private company, beneficiary candidates, and others, and caused gross irregularities in the conduct of written examination for the posts of Sub-Inspectors.
It was further alleged that there was an abnormally high percentage of selected candidates from the Jammu, Rajouri, and Samba districts.
"Violation of rules by JKSSB was allegedly found in assigning the task of setting question paper to Bengaluru-based private company. The investigation has revealed that the alleged payment of Rs.20 to 30 lakh(approx) by willing candidates and their families to the accused for accessing the question paper before the commencement of the examination", the official handout of CBI on Thursday reads.
CBI sleuths recover digital evidence
According to CBI, searches were earlier conducted at various locations in several States including J&K, Haryana, Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, and Karnataka at the premises of accused persons which led to the recovery of a large number of incriminating documents and digital evidence.
"It was found during the investigation that the said accused in conspiracy with others including their relatives allegedly leaked the question paper, solicited candidates for sale of leaked question paper, received/collected huge cash around twenty lakh, and transferred the same to different bank accounts", spokesman of CBI stated.
