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Bhubaneswar, Oct 22 (IANS) Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Manjhi has ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the multi-crore police sub-inspector (SI) recruitment exam scam, according to a statement issued by the CM’s office on Wednesday.
According to the official statement, large-scale irregularities and serious allegations of corruption were revealed in the Odisha Police Sub-Inspector Recruitment Examination.
Initially the investigation was handed over to the Crime Branch-CID of the state police. Preliminary findings suggest that the scam may extend beyond Odisha, especially to Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal.
Apart from this, it is also suspected that inter-state organized criminal networks may also be involved in this multi-crore scam.
“Keeping these developments in mind, the Chief Minister has decided to hand over the investigation to the CBI to ensure a thorough investigation, complete exposure of the scam and stringent punishment for all those involved in the scam,” the CMO said.
Additionally, the state government is also considering setting up a permanent commission for selection of personnel in the police and other uniformed services to ensure transparency and accountability in recruitment in future.
It is noteworthy that till now Odisha Police has arrested 123 accused involved in SI recruitment scam.
On October 17, police arrested four people, including key accused Muna Mohanty, Srikatna Moharana alias Rinku, T. Abhimanyu Dora and Priyadarshini Samal.
The police, while investigating the possible leak of question papers for the recruitment of Combined Police Services Examination (CPSE)-2024 conducted by the Odisha Police Recruitment Board, discovered that the accused Muna Mohanty was running a crime syndicate with the help of other associates under the instructions of the main accused Shankar Prusty, who is the Director of Punchsoft Technologies Pvt Ltd, based at Patiya, Bhubaneswar, which destroyed the entire SI. Recruitment examination process by adopting unfair means.
The scam came to light on the night of September 29 after Berhampur police in neighboring Andhra Pradesh stopped three buses carrying 114 candidates and three agents.
The main accused Prasti, who was in Delhi during the arrest of 114 candidates and agents, is still absconding and efforts are on to arrest him.
–IANS
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