Berhampur: The Berhampur District and Sessions Judge Court has rejected the bail pleas of 119 individuals arrested over alleged irregularities surrounding the now-postponed combined police service examination (CPSE)-2024.
Among them are 114 aspirants for sub-inspector of police and five middlemen.
On October 1, the 114 aspirants along with three middlemen were arrested while being taken by buses outside the state to obtain leaked question papers in the written examination, which was scheduled for October 5-6. The state crime branch took over the investigation from Berhampur police and arrested another broker, Biswaranjan Behera (29) from Barang area in Cuttack, who allegedly collected original certificates and blank cheques from aspiring candidates to provide question papers for the examination, on October 3.
On October 4, the crime branch sleuths raided a coaching centre in Bhubaneswar’s Nandankanan area, which reportedly served as a hub for middlemen, who colluded with candidates to acquire question papers, and arrested a suspected middleman, Arabinda Das (43), from Balasore.
However, Chandan Mallick, believed to be a close associate of the scam’s alleged mastermind Shankar Prusty, was let off after marathon grilling over two days. Prusty, previously booked in a fake certificate racket, runs a private company in the Infocity area. He is currently at large.
Preliminary probe revealed that an organised criminal syndicate was operating to subvert the entire examination process by adopting unfair means for monetary gain. Each candidate had reportedly agreed to pay Rs 25 lakh in installments, Rs 10 lakh towards advance and the remaining Rs 15 lakh after they were selected for the job. A confidential intelligence report submitted to DGP YB Khurania a day after the scam came to light, hinted at an alleged nexus of senior police officers with private firms contracted for recruitment examination, according to TNIE.
On October 7, the government sought an explanation from Odisha Police Recruitment Board (OPRB) for outsourcing the competitive exam despite a ban imposed on such practices.
