BHUBANESWAR: In a major breakthrough in sub-inspector (SI) recruitment scam, the Crime Branch of Odisha Police on Thursday evening arrested two main associates of key conspirator Sankar Prusty.
The accused have been identified as Muna Mohanty and Rinku Moharana. “The two accused were approaching the SI exam candidates on behalf of Sankar,” said a senior CB officer.
Though CB officers did not disclose the location from where they picked up the duo, sources said the two were apprehended from within the state after an extensive two-week-long search operation.
Official sources said the arrest of Sankar’s two associates holds significance as he has so far managed to evade the law and CB is yet to trace his whereabouts.
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 headed by Sankar.
Sources said the CB had recently submitted a report to the state government mentioning that Sankar was the mastermind of SI recruitment scam. The agency’s officers have also initiated the process to issue a lookout circular against him through the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to ensure he is not able to flee the country.
Investigation revealed, Sankar had planned to take the candidates to Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal and Chhattisgarh to provide them ‘training’, just a few days before the now-postponed Combined Police Service Examination (CPSE) 2024.
