Srinagar: The CBI conducted searches at 30 locations on Friday in connection with alleged irregularities in the selection of police sub-inspectors by the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB), officials said.
The searches were conducted at 28 locations in Jammu and one each in Srinagar and Bengaluru after the registration of an FIR against JKSSB member Narayan Dutt and 32 other accused, including middlemen and candidates, they said.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has also named Karnail Singh, a medical officer posted in Jammu, Avinash Gupta, the owner of a coaching centre in Akhnoor, and a Bengaluru-based company in the FIR, they said.
Last month, the Jammu and Kashmir administration cancelled the police sub-inspector recruitment following allegations of irregularities and recommended a CBI probe into the selection process.
It was alleged that there were irregularities in the written examination conducted on March 27.
“The results were declared on 04.06.2022. There were allegations regarding malpractices in the examination. The Jammu and Kashmir government had constituted an inquiry committee to look into the same. It was alleged that the accused entered into conspiracy amongst officials of JKSSB, Bengaluru-based private company, beneficiary candidates and others, and caused gross irregularities in conduct of written examination for the posts of sub-inspectors,” the CBI said in a statement.
The initial inquiry showed that there was an “abnormally high percentage” of selected candidates from Jammu, Rajouri and Samba districts.
“Violation of rules by JKSSB was allegedly found in assigning the task of setting the question paper to a Bengaluru-based private company,” it said.
The CBI has also booked Ashok Kumar, ASI, J&K Police; Ashwani Kumar, former CRPF official; Akshay Kumar, manager of the Akhnoor coaching centre ‘EDUMAX Classes’; Roshan Bral, RET teacher; Bishan Dass, then under secretary at JKSSB; Anju Raina, then section officer at JKSSB; and the Bengaluru-based MeritTrac Services Private Limited.
However, the agitating candidates smell fish saying the preliminary investigations seem aimed at finding out scapegoats to save the ‘big ones’ involved in the scam.
“It is a big scam and would have not been possible without the involvement of big guns,” said Rakesh, one of the aggrieved candidates.
He says, the administration seems hell bent on saving some “big fish” at the cost of “small fries”.
One more agitated youth, who wished not to be identified as his maternal uncle holds some important position in the administration and thus his utterances would trouble him, said that every attempt is being made to save the real corrupt people by throwing pigmies into the firing range.
“It is a huge scandal and could never have been done by small time employees. Something is being suppressed. Something is being hidden,” he said.
