NEW DELHI: CBI has filed an FIR against 23 people, including 17 Army personnel, in connection with a case regarding allegations of bribery and irregularities in recruitment through the Service Selection Board (SSB), reports Rajshekher Jha.
Those booked by CBI include six Lieutenant Colonels, two Majors, a Major’s parents and wife and many others from the ranks of Naib Subedars, Havildars and Sepoys, the agency said. In all, 23 people have been named, including six civilians.
The agency on Monday conducted searches at 30 places in 13 cities covering Army establishments and cantonments besides civilian areas.
CBI is set to serve notice to the accused to join the investigations. They will be questioned in the coming days. The Army has also provided CBI with their internal inquiry report detailing the findings against each officer. Money trails of over Rs 50 lakh through some bank accounts of civilians has already been established but the cash part has been mentioned as “undisclosed” in the FIR. Sources say it could be to the tune of several crores of rupees.
The cases was registered on March 13 on a complaint from an Army officer, Brigadier V K Purohit.
The complaint from the Army states that on February 28, an input was received about alleged involvement of serving personnel in accepting bribe for clearing medical review exam of temporarily rejected candidates at the Base Hospital in New Delhi.
As the allegations involved the SSB, the issue was taken up at the highest level. SSBs are held for selection of both permanent and short service commission officers into the armed forces.
An inquiry was initiated with assistance from the Military Intelligence which revealed “sufficient evidence of culpability of service personnel and civilians as recipients of the money trail”.
The Army detected gross malpractices in a selection centre in Punjab, which conducts Services Selection Board (SSB) tests for officer-level entry into the armed forces.
The case was subsequently handed over to CBI. This case comes on the heels of another case where two Majors and others were arrested for leak of exam paper for recruitment of jawans.