BHUBANESWAR: Alleged nexus of senior police officers with private firms contracted for the police sub-inspector (SI) recruitment examination coupled with absence of due diligence has been by flagged as reasons behind the massive scam in the now-postponed Combined Police Service Examination (CPSE) 2024, according to a confidential intelligence report accessed by The New Indian Express.
The report was submitted to DGP YB Khurania a day after the scam came to light. It indicated that some senior police officers were frequently visiting the offices of the private agencies tasked to carry out CPSE for different reasons and might have nexus with their owners and directors.
The report pointed out that Panchsoft Technologies, one of the private firms, was headed by Sankar Prusty, a native of Kabisuryanagar and he ran the firm in his wife’s name. The report suggested that Prusty was allegedly involved in several malpractices. “It is learnt that he (Prusty) in collusion with Silicon Techlab was planning to engage in large-scale organised malpractices during CPSE,” the report said. Prusty also runs another firm named Kedarnath Technologies under Chamakhandi police limits of Ganjam. Both Panchsoft and Silicon Techlab have their offices in Bhubaneswar’s DLF Cyber City and were found to be locked ever since the scam came to the fore on September 30, it said.
“Intelligence suggests that some high police officers are frequently visiting these offices for different reasons and might be having some nexus with the owners and directors of the said firms. The owners and directors of the said firms may be investigated into for their involvement in the crime/racket,” stated the report.
The examination, conducted by the Odisha Police Recruitment Board (OPRB), was awarded to ITI Limited, a central PSU based out of Kolkata. The public sector undertaking sub-contracted the work to Bhubaneswar-based Silicon Techlab and key tasks were given to Panchsoft Technologies.
The report revealed that the network had assured SI exam candidates to provide them access to question papers before the exams against kickbacks ranging between Rs 15 lakh to Rs 25 lakh per applicant. Members of the racket had managed to contact about 500 candidates and arranged their accommodation at the hotels near Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border.
The intelligence report also revealed that one Pradeep Sethi of Khallikote was one of the key conspirators and an important member of the syndicate. He was detained by Khallikote police in August this year in connection with Odisha Teacher Eligibility Test (OTET) malpractice. Despite no known sources of income, he managed to amass assets worth crores of rupees, including a flat in Khallikote, a building in Nirmaljhar and a plot in Berhampur.
His assets and previous involvement in examination frauds reinforce the suspicion about his major role in the CPSE scam, said the report which indicated existence of an organised and a well-coordinated network attempting to manipulate the recruitment process of Odisha Police by influencing or facilitating malpractices in CPSE.
The operation appears to involve brokers, transporters, third-party agencies and habitual offenders who are active across Odisha and even outside the state, the report stated.
The report has blown the lid of the fact that due diligence was consigned to the bin before such an important examination and agencies with dubious reputation were contracted, exposing the recruitment test to such a massive fraud.
Meanwhile, the Crime Branch has only nabbed five middlemen - one was arrested on Sunday - besides 114 candidates. So far, key member of the network and those who worked in nexus have managed to elude police action. The investigating agency maintained that multiple teams are on the job to apprehend the main conspirators.
