Ranchi, Oct 22 (IANS) The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has tightened its legal grip on the high-profile scam case involving the manipulation of OMR sheets, breaches of confidential data, and the trading of merit in Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examinations.
Just before the expiry of the 90-day statutory period, the CID filed a formal charge sheet against five key accused in a Ranchi court on Wednesday evening.
This timely action by the investigative agency has effectively closed the door for the arrested accused to seek ‘default bail.’
Furthermore, the CID is preparing to file a supplementary charge sheet against other remaining suspects and the candidates who benefited from the scam.
The five primary accused named in this initial charge sheet include the then Deputy Controller of Examinations, Shweta Kumari Gupta; the director of the agency ‘TDPL’ and the mastermind behind the entire scam, Ramveer Singh (alias R.V. Singh); the marketing manager and kingpin, Abhay Kumar Tiwari (alias Manoj Kumar Tiwari); and agency staff members Md. Usman and Md. Ebad.
The case diary and investigation report submitted by the CID to the court have exposed an organised ‘merit syndicate’ that compromised the confidentiality of the Commission and the integrity of the entire examination system.
The investigation revealed that a ‘rate card’ had been established to guarantee success for unqualified candidates. Exorbitant sums were demanded: Rs 5 lakh to pass the preliminary examination, Rs 10-15 lakh to inflate marks in the main examination and interviews, and between Rs 60-70 lakh to secure final selection.
As a form of ‘security’ or collateral, the candidates were forced to hand over their original academic documents, blank cheques, and signed blank sheets of paper. The report from the Forensic Science Laboratory and the examination of seized digital devices have confirmed that OMR sheets were deliberately left blank; these were subsequently filled in by manipulating the scanning process and the backend server directly.
Furthermore, the confidential answer key was leaked via WhatsApp before its official release. In exchange, flight tickets to Delhi and Bengaluru were booked for the then-Deputy Controller of Examinations and his family members.
The CID has registered a case against the accused under the provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, as well as under stringent sections of the ‘Jharkhand Competitive Examination Act, 2023’.
The court has set October 26 as the date for the first official hearing in this matter, and the CID is continuously expanding the scope of its investigation to uncover other individuals involved.
–IANS
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