BSF commandant arrested in J-K sub-inspectors' recruitment scam case sent to 10-day CBI remand
Jammu (PTI): A Border Security Force (BSF) medical officer arrested in connection with alleged irregularities in the recruitment of sub-inspectors was sent to 10-day CBI remand by a local court here, officials said.
The CBI on Tuesday arrested BSF Commandant (Medical), Karnail Singh, for allegedly using touts to get his son the question paper of the police sub-inspectors' recruitment examination, conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB), officials had said on Wednesday.
The court of Chief Judicial Magistrate (CJM) Amarjeet Singh on Wednesday sent him to 10 days in remand, the officials added.
The CJM, after going through the case diary, maintained that the investigation was at an initial stage and granted the investigating agency's prayer seeking remand of the accused.
The arrest of Singh, posted at BSF's Paloura Headquarters, brings the number of arrested persons in the scam to nine. While five persons are in judicial lock-up till October 29, three others have been sent to jail till October 21.
The question paper was allegedly provided to Singh early in the morning on the day of the examination, March 27, at a house in Gangyal in Jammu. It is alleged that some other candidates also got the leaked question paper at Singh's residence just a few hours before the examination.
Investigations have revealed that the alleged payment of Rs 20-Rs 30 lakh was made by willing candidates and their families to the accused for accessing the question paper before the examination, the CBI said.
The CBI had conducted two rounds of raids at multiple locations in connection with the question paper leak.
The probe agency has also named Avinash Gupta, owner of a coaching center in Akhnoor in Jammu district, and a Bengaluru-based company in its FIR, the officials said.
Singh, who was called in for questioning by the CBI, did not cooperate with the investigation, prompting the agency to arrest him, sources said.
His wife and his daughter, however, claimed that Singh was innocent and said he was not involved in any scam.
The J&K administration cancelled the police sub-inspector recruitment in July following allegations of irregularities and recommended a CBI probe.
"The results were declared on 04.06.2022. There were allegations regarding malpractice in the examination. The Jammu and Kashmir government had constituted an inquiry committee to look into the same," the CBI had said in a statement following searches on August 5.
"It was alleged that the accused entered into a conspiracy amongst officials of the JKSSB, Bengaluru-based private company, beneficiary candidates and others, and caused gross irregularities in conduct of written examination for the posts of sub-inspectors," it had said.
The inquiry report showed that there was an "abnormally high percentage" of candidates who were selected from Jammu, Rajouri and Samba districts, the agency had said.
"Violation of rules by JKSSB was allegedly found in assigning the task of setting question paper to a Bengaluru-based private company," it had said.
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Confident we are going to win Kerala: Shashi Tharoor
New Delhi (PTI): Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Thursday expressed confidence in the victory of the United Democratic Front (UDF) in Kerala, saying the Congress-led alliance will win more than 75 seats out of the total 140 in the state.
Tharoor, who hails from Kerala, said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls, most of which predicted a victory for the UDF that has been out of power for 10 years in the state.
"We have been on the ground. I have campaigned in 59 constituencies across 12 districts out of 14. I was very confident we are going to win.
"Everything that I have picked up from not just my party colleagues and workers but also from other observers, media and others have always convinced me that we were going to score a comfortable win of above 75 seats. And all the (exit) polls have confirmed the same thing," he told reporters here.
The Thiruvananthapuram MP said he was not surprised to see the results of the exit polls but in general he was not a big fan of exit polls in India.
"Because ours is not purely a homogenous society. We have to take into account gender issue, caste issue, class issue, regional disparities. You never get a convincingly large enough sample to give an accurate poll and now there is the additional complication that we have heard about in West Bengal this year that many people are unwilling to answer the questions of the pollsters," he said.
The Congress leader said normally, it used to be below 10 per cent that people said that they would not answer.
"Even if you are a reputable exit pollster, in Bengal, one polling company has said 60 per cent of people refused to answer. So, what is the worth of a poll where 60 per cent of your respondents have not answered," he said.
Several exit polls on Wednesday predicted a comeback by the Congress-led UDF in Kerala after 10 years, dethroning the CPI(M)-led Left Democratic Front (LDF).
Polling for the 140-member Kerala assembly was held on April 9. Results of assembly elections in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Assam, Puducherry, besides Kerala, will be announced on May 4.
