The CBI launched a search operation on Tuesday at 33 sites, including the home of ex-Jammu and Kashmir SSB chairman Khalid Jahangir, to investigate suspected anomalies in the recruitment of sub-inspectors in the Union Territory, sources said.
They said that searches were also being conducted at the offices of the Controller of Examinations for the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB), Ashok Kumar.
Jammu, Srinagar, Karnal, Mahendergarh, Rewari in Haryana; Gandhinagar in Gujarat; Delhi; Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh; and Bengaluru in Karnataka are among the locations searched.
According to them, this is the CBI’s second wave of searches as part of its investigation into potential irregularities.
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In response to allegations of irregularities in the written examination for the position of Sub-Inspector in the J&K Police on March 27, 2022, which was administered by the J&K Services Selection Board (JKSSB), the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed a case against 33 accused on August 5 after filing the FIR.
On June 4 of this year, the test results were announced, and shortly after, charges of exam fraud appeared. An investigation committee was formed by the Jammu and Kashmir government to investigate the allegations.
The CBI has stated that there was “an abnormally high percentage of selected candidates from Jammu, Rajouri and Samba districts” and that “the accused entered into conspiracy amongst officials of JKSSB, Bengaluru-based private company, beneficiary candidates, and others, and caused gross irregularities in the conduct of written examination for the posts of sub-inspectors.”
According to the investigation agency, JKSSB reportedly broke the law when it outsourced the creation of question papers to a private corporation with headquarters in Bengaluru.