BHUBANESWAR: The Crime Branch on Saturday said an inter-state crime syndicate was behind the alleged question paper leak in the now-postponed Combined Police Service Examination (CPSE)-2024, a day after arresting another middleman in the multi-crore scam.
Biswaranjan Behera, 29, allegedly netted at least five candidates promising them sub-inspector (SI) of police jobs, recruitment for which was being conducted by the Odisha Police Recruitment Board through the CPSE. The accused was part of the racket and actively contacted aspiring candidates as per the instructions of the head of the syndicate, the CB said.
The 29-year-old apparently collected original certificates and blank cheques from candidates in lieu of providing questions to them. He handed over the documents to senior members of the syndicate. A senior officer of CB confirmed that the question sets for the recruitment test were prepared by Bhubaneswar-based Silicon Techlab.
As per the procedure, Silicon Techlab sent five question paper sets to OPRB and the board selected one of them. The board also selected another set as a back-up in the event of any technical issue during the printing of question papers which were in optical mark recognition (OMR) format, said sources.
Tender for examination was originally awarded to central PSU ITI Limited which had sub-contracted it to Silicon Techlab which, in turn, sublet key works to another agency, Panchsoft Technologies Private Limited. While role of the two private agencies are under CB scanner, director of Panchsoft Technologies Ltd Sankar Prusty and his associate Munna Mohanty are absconding, the CB sources said.
The CB has already questioned one of its directors of Silicon Techlab in connection with the scam. However, its management has maintained that question papers were not leaked from their end.
Investigation also revealed that the racket had access to CPSE database of applicants and its top members had employed middlemen, like Biswaranjan, in different districts.
The CB said investigation of the case is underway and multiple teams are on the job to apprehend the main conspirators. It had taken over the probe of sub-inspector (SI) recruitment scam from Berhampur police.
