The Special Investigation Cell (SIC) of Arunachal Pradesh’s Vigilance department has filed charge-sheet against 19 individuals allegedly involved in the Arunachal Pradesh Staff Selection Board (APSSB) examination cash-for-job scam case.
The charge sheet was filed in the court of the special judge at Yupia, based on facts revealed during investigation, SIC superintendent of Police, M Harsh Vardhan said. There are more APSSB candidates under investigation and they will be dealt with as per law in the supplementary charge sheet, he said.
“We have four approvers evidence in APSSB cash-for-job scam,” he said adding the SIC has frozen the bank account of the main accused, Kapter Ringu, the then under secretary of Arunachal Pradesh Staff Selection Board which had more than Rs 1 crore. The APSSB software vendor and the then APSSB under secretary had also conspired to manipulate the skill test, he added.
Among the charge-sheeted are former APSSB undersecretary and main accused Kapter Ringu, Yabi Ringu, Tame Yasum, Yapi Godak, Yamak Dui, Taba Kutung, Taba Rinyo, Taba Apang, Surojit Das, Sultana Nasreen Banu, Mosmi Dui, Senia Bagang, Mongam Basar, Khem Raj Upadhyaya, Jumcha Lamaty, Kenjum Lendo, Tame Tania, Tame Nacham and Tai Api, the SP informed.
As per the forensic data analysis from the seized electronic devices, the SIC has managed to retrieve some deleted data and messages, he informed, adding that additional deleted data from electronic devices are yet to be analyzed in the CFL, Chandigarh. “Over the nine-month investigation, the SIC has also received approval of prosecution sanction against the government employees involved in the malpractice and of those whose names are reflected in the chargesheet,” the SP said.
It is to be noted that the APSSB had conducted the examination for 125 various state government posts on 2 February 2020 across the state and declared the results on 14 February, short-listing 315 candidates. The Board came under public scrutiny after a suspicious optical mark recognition (OMR) sheet was seen doing the rounds on social media soon after the results of the exam for lower divisional clerk (LDC), junior secretariat assistant (JSA) and other posts were published on its website. None of the markers of the particular OMR sheet had been shaded in the multiple-choice answer sheet, implying that the candidate had left the answer sheet blank. However, the candidate had been shortlisted for the skill test as per the result declared.
An investigation by the SIC revealed that numerous officials from the Board were involved in the scam where candidates had paid bribes to secure LDC, JSA and UDC jobs. The controversy had led to the suspension of its then-secretary, SK Jain.