New Delhi: The CBI has arrested four people, including a Jammu and Kashmir Police Assistant Sub-Inspector and a CRPF constable, in connection with Sub-Inspectors’ recruitment scam in the Union Territory, officials said Monday.
The CBI has taken into custody Ashok Kumar, ASI, J&K Police; Surender Singh, Constable, CRPF, and two private individuals — Pradeep Kumar, packing in-charge at the printing press where papers were getting printed, and one Bajinder Singh, they said.
All the accused were called to Jammu where they were arrested and produced before a special court after questioning, they said.
The CBI probe in the scam has shown that Rs 20-30 lakh were allegedly paid by some aspirants to get advance copies of the papers, they said.
“CBI has so far arrested 13 accused including two constables of J&K Police, one CRPF official, one ex-constable of CRPF, one government teacher, one Commandant of BSF and one ASI of Jammu and Kashmir Police,” the agency said in a statement.
Kumar, who was working at an Okhla-based Printing Press as packing in-charge, allegedly stole the question paper of the examination at the time of packing and sold it to Rewari-based Yatin Yadav, who was arrested earlier.
According to the CBI, it was Yadav who contacted the other touts based in Jammu and Kashmir for soliciting candidates for the sale of leaked question papers, the CBI said.
The candidates were transported from Jammu to Karnal in vehicles arranged by ASI Ashok Kumar a day before the examination.
In Karnal, Bajinder Singh was alleged to have arranged a hotel where candidates were handed over the leaked question paper.
Constable Surender Singh of CRPF allegedly provided the leaked question paper to certain candidates, they said.
“The Central Bureau of Investigation has registered a case on the request of J&K Government against 33 accused … on the allegations of irregularities in written examination for the posts of Sub-Inspectors in the J&K Police on 27.03.2022, conducted by Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB),” the CBI had said after the registration of the FIR earlier.
The exam results were declared on June 04 this year. After the allegations of malpractice in the conduct of the exam surfaced, the Union Territory government constituted an inquiry committee to look into the matter.
“It was alleged that the accused entered into a 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 Jammu, Rajouri, and Samba districts,” the CBI has said.
JKSSB allegedly violated rules in outsourcing the setting of question papers to a Bengaluru-based private company, the agency had said.
