“The CBI conducted simultaneous raids at Mumbai, Bangalore, Raipur, Kolkata and Hyderabad. This scam relates to the examination for the post of Assistant Loco Pilot (ALP) and Assistant Station Master (ASM),” CBI spokesperson Harsh Bhal said here.
Those arrested include Vivek Bhardwaj Sharma, son of RRB Mumbai Chairman S M Sharma, former Raipur Additional Divisional Railway Manager (ADRM) A K Jagannatham, his son Srujan and agents in Raipur and Hyderabad.
Shortly after his son was arrested, Sharma was suspended by the Railways. “He will be kept under suspension till further orders,” said a senior Railway Ministry official. The RRBs had conducted examinations across the country for induction of staff in Group ‘C’ category of the Indian Railways. On June 6, examinations were held for recruitment of ALP and on June 13, for ASM.
“The then ADRM, Raipur, in connivance with the officials of RRB, Mumbai, could secure a copy of the question paper before the examination date and provide the same to several aspirants,” Bhal alleged.
Candidates who came to Jagannatham through agents had to pay Rs 3.5 lakh to secure their selection. A part of the sum and their original certificates had to be handed over to him to get the question paper a day before the exam. And, after the results are out, they could pay the remaining sum and take back their certificates.
The CBI, after raiding a Bangalore hotel where Jagannatham was staying, recovered Rs 12 lakh from him along with question papers and original certificates of the aspirants. In Mumbai, they found over Rs 60 lakh in bank accounts of Sharma’s family members, besides bank pass books and laptops. Also, Vivek had allegedly purchased a Pajero recently in the name of a relative.
“In Hyderabad, Rs 21.5 lakh in cash and original certificates of 444 aspirants were recovered from the residence of the then ADRM (Jagannatham),” Bhal said. The probe agency also found several incriminating documents from its searches in Kolkata, Hyderabad and Raipur. After arrest, Vivek, Jagannatham, Srujan and the agent were produced on Thursday in a Hyderabad court and were remanded in 14 days’ judicial custody.