By IANS,
New Delhi : A day after arresting eight people, including an inspector general of police (IGP) and a commandant of the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) for their alleged role in irregularities in recruitment in the paramilitary force, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Thursday arrested two more officers.
“We have arrested Deputy Inspector General (DIG) T.M. Basla, Commandant of 134 battalion D.S. Sidhu and a middleman Pankaj Chaurasia from Patna,” a CBI official told IANS here.
The agency had Tuesday registered a case of conspiracy, bribery and abetment against some senior officers of the CRPF in Bihar sector (Bihar and Jharkhand) as well as some civilians for allegedly taking bribes from people aspiring to be recruited as CRPF constables.
On Wednesday it arrested CRPF Bihar Inspector General of Police Pushkar Singh and Commandant Yadwinder Singh and recovered Rs.2.3 million (Rs.23 lakh) and FDRs of Rs.1.5 million (Rs.15 lakh) from them.
Suspended CRPF constable Mukesh Kumar, who is believed to be the kingpin of the racket, was arrested in Jharkhand and Rs.765,000 was recovered from him. Among others who were arrested is Kumar’s third wife Swati from whom Rs.5.3 million (Rs.53 lakh) was recovered.
“Others who were arrested include Tripurari Kumar, from whom documents of immovable property were recovered, Sindhu Nath Sharma from whom Rs.365,000 in cash was recovered, Dalip Kumar and Pargat Singh,” the official said.
According to the CBI, the racket was being run with the help of a widespread network of touts across Bihar and Jharkhand, who used to contact prospective candidates and assure them of selection in lieu of huge sums of money.