Four cops among six held in Chhattisgarh police recruitment drive fraud

Rajnandgaon: Six people, including four cops, were arrested on Saturday for allegedly committing forgery in the ongoing constable recruitment drive in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district to favour some candidates in the selection process, police said.

Those held have been identified as constables Yogesh Dhruve, Dharmraj Markam, Pushpa Chandravanshi and Paridhi, and two workers of a private firm providing technical assistance for the drive, Pavan Sahu and Nuteshwari Dhruve, they said.

Pushpa, Paridhi and Nuteshwari are women, police said.

The drive to recruit constables for Rajnandgaon Police Range began on the premises of the 8th battalion of Chhattisgarh Armed Force (CAF) on November 16 and is being held with technical support from Hyderabad-based Timing Technology Company, a police official said.

The police range covers the districts of Rajanandgaon, Khairagarh-Chhuikhadan-Gandai, Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki and Kabirdham.

The private company manages the technical equipment used in the recruitment process and storage of data, the official said.

On December 17, an FIR was registered on the complaint of Deputy Superintendent of Police Tanupriya Thakur, in charge of a shot put event under the Physical Efficiency Test during the drive, after she found a candidate’s marks to be forged, he said.

She also noticed that the equipment used to record marks had been tampered with to benefit some candidates, he said.

Examination of CCTV footage, mobile chats and statements of witnesses pointed to the involvement of these six accused in the malpractice following which they were apprehended, he said.

Further investigation into the matter is underway, the official said.

A constable, Anil Ratnakar, suspected to be involved in the alleged irregularities was found hanging from a tree in Rampur village under Lalbag police station limits in the morning, police said.

“A note written with a pen was found on the left palm of Ratnakar, which stated employees were being targeted in the alleged irregularities in recruitment and officers protected. Prima facie, it seems to be a case of suicide and further investigation is underway,” Rajnandgaon Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg said earlier.