Bhubaneswar: The Crime Branch (CB) of Odisha Police Monday arrested Bhubaneswar-based Silicon Techlab Private Limited’s promoter Suresh Nayak in connection with the agency’s ongoing probe into the multi-crore rupee sub-inspector recruitment scam, official sources said.
With Monday’s development, a total of 125 people, including 114 job aspirants, have been arrested in connection with the case.
The job aspirants were, however, released on bail a few days ago. Nayak, along with Shankar Prusty, the scam’s alleged mastermind, who was arrested near the Nepal border in Uttarakhand Saturday, was produced before a court in Berhampur later in the day.
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The Odisha Police Recruitment Board (OPRB) had outsourced the conduct of the Combined Police Service Examination (CPSE) to Kolkata-headquartered CPSU ITI Limited, which further sub-contracted the job to Silicon Techlab Private Limited.
“Nayak was the sole individual responsible for the preparation, printing, and transportation of the question papers. Silicon Techlab Private Limited, however, assigned key responsibilities to Panchsoft Technologies, headed by Prusty,” the CB said, adding that it was here that Prusty carried out the manipulation.
During the course of the investigation, the CB found that Nayak was in continuous contact with Prusty. “Evidence has established that Nayak had provided shelter to Prusty at his company’s guesthouse located at Kalkaji in New Delhi, and then alerted him to abscond from the premises to evade police arrest and investigation.
It clearly established their nexus,” the CB said in a statement. The scam came to light in the last week of September after police intercepted three buses heading to Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh and detained 114 candidates who were set to appear for the examination scheduled October 5 and 6.
Investigations revealed that the candidates were to be given question papers for practice ahead of the examination. After the practice session, they would be brought to the examination centre to appear for the test.
Each candidate had allegedly paid between Rs 20 lakh and Rs 25 lakh.
The accused had also collected the original certificates of candidates. Police initially arrested 123 people, including the 114 candidates.
Another 110 candidates were supposed to get similar ‘coaching’ in West Bengal’s Digha September 30. But due to the police action in Berhampur, it was cancelled, police said. The state government has recommended a CBI investigation into the scam as it has interstate implications, involving organised gangs.
Prusty has claimed that the scam involved irregularities worth over Rs 1,000 crore. Opposition BJD alleged that the Chief Minister’s Office was directly involved in the scam.
“The CM is the Home Minister, and the OPRB conducted the examination. How come Prusty’s organisation, Panchsoft Technology, got the contract without knowledge of the CM,” BJD Rajya Sabha MP Sulata Deo said.