Three more held in Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission recruitment scam

Raipur: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three more persons in the alleged Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC) recruitment scam, a lawyer representing two of them said.

Sahil Sonwani has been nabbed from Darjeeling in West Bengal, while Shashank Goyal and his wife Bhumika Katiyar have been apprehended from New Delhi, the couple's lawyer, Faisal Rizvi, said on Sunday.

"The three were brought to Chhattisgarh on Sunday. The court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) Kriti Kujur remanded them in the CBI's custody till January 13," Rizvi said.

Sahil Sonwani, who was selected as deputy superintendent of police, is the son of the elder brother of retired IAS officer and former CGPSC Chairman Taman Singh Sonwani.

Shashank and Bhumika, selected as deputy collectors, are the son and daughter-in-law of Raipur-based director of Bajrang Power and Ispat Limited Shravan Kumar Goyal.

The CBI arrested Taman Singh Sonwani and Shravan Kumar Goyal in November 2024 for their alleged involvement in the case. They are currently in jail.

According to the CBI, Taman Singh Sonwani, who headed CGPSC during the Congress rule between 2018 and 2023, allegedly took a bribe of Rs 45 lakh from Shravan Goyal to ensure the selection of the latter's son and daughter-in-law as deputy collectors.

On Saturday, Sonwani's relative Nitesh and former deputy examination controller Lalit Ganweer were apprehended and sent in the CBI's remand till January 13.

The CGPSC is the apex body responsible for recruiting candidates for various state government jobs through competitive examinations.

In July 2024, the CBI took over the probe into two cases registered in Raipur and Arjunda in Balod district over alleged favouritism in the selection of deputy collectors, deputy superintendents of police and other senior government positions through the exam conducted by the CGPSC between 2020 and 2022.

Taman Singh Sonwani, then-secretary Jeevan Kishore Dhruv, the then controller of examinations and other public servants and politicians colluded to get their kin and acquaintances recruited for various state government posts through tests and interviews conducted during 2020-2022, the CBI alleged.

The CBI has claimed Nitesh Sonwani was selected as deputy collector, while Sahil, son of Taman Singh Sonwani's elder brother, was picked as deputy SP.

Sunita Joshi, daughter of Taman Singh Sonwani's sister, got the job of a labour officer, while Nitesh Sonwani's wife Nisha Kosale was selected as a deputy collector, the central agency said.

Senior BJP leaders, during electioneering for the 2023 state assembly polls, targeted the then ruling Congress over alleged irregularities in the CGPSC recruitments and promised to get them probed if the saffron party came to power.

The BJP won the state assembly polls in December 2023.