BHUBANESWAR/BERHAMPUR: In a major breakthrough in the sub-inspector (SI) recruitment scam investigation, the state Crime Branch has arrested one Sagar Gouda, reportedly the principal associate of main accused Sankar Prusty.
The 22-year-old Gouda is a native of Balipada area in Ganjam’s Berhampur. “Gouda has been identified as the principal associate and close aide of key accused Prusty, who was nabbed from the border area of India and Nepal on November 1 in connection with the combined police service examination (CPSE) 2024 scam,” CB officials said on Wednesday.
As per reports, the CB team reached Berhampur on Tuesday night and apprehended Gouda from his house on MKCG medical college campus. “Investigation revealed that Gouda played a pivotal role in supervising the entire operation of the Balasore module. Acting on Prusty’s instructions, he coordinated logistical arrangements and ensured execution of the plan on the ground,” said a CB official.
The official further informed that Gouda had visited Digha on September 29, where hotel accommodations had been booked by Aravinda Das, earlier arrested in the case, for the candidates. Gouda allegedly handled the entire operation on behalf of Prusty, from collecting money from the candidates to facilitating their accommodation for exam preparation.
“Further probe indicated Gouda had been working closely with Prusty to facilitate several other aspects of the illegal activities linked to the examination malpractice,” CB officials said. The total number of arrests made so far in connection with the case comes to around 126 including 114 candidates.
Amid allegations of multi-state nexus in the scam, the Centre had on Tuesday handed over the case to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). The move was taken after the state government had requested the Centre for a CBI probe into the matter.
Sources said seven accused including Prusty have applied for bail in the Special Vigilance Judge Court. The others include Silicon Techlab owner Suresh Chandra Nayak and agents Tafhim Ahmed Khan, Biswaranjan Behera, Aravinda Das, Shekhar Sahu and Prakash Sahu.
The court has fixed November 13 as the date for hearing on the matter. The accused had earlier applied for bail in a lower court but it had been rejected.