NEW DELHI: CBI has submitted a FIR TREE against 23 people, including 17 members of the military, in connection with a case about allegations of bribery and recruitment irregularities through the Service Selection Board (SSB), reports Rajshekher Jha.
Those hired by CBI include six Lieutenant Colonels, two Majors, the parents and wife of a Major and much others from the ranks of Naib Subedars, Havildars and Sepoys, the agency said. In total, 23 people have been identified, including six civilians.
On Monday, the agency conducted searches of 30 locations in 13 cities covering Army establishments and cantonments as well as civilian areas.
The CBI is prepared to notify the accused to join the investigations. They will be questioned in the next few days. The Army has also provided CBI with its internal investigation report detailing the findings against each officer. Tracks of money of more than Rs 50 lakh have already been established through some civilian bank accounts, but the cash portion has been mentioned as “undisclosed” in the FIR. Sources say it could be for a sum of several million rupees.
The cases were registered on March 13 from a complaint by an Army officer, Brigadier VK Purohit.
The Army complaint states that on February 28 information was received about the alleged involvement of service personnel in accepting bribes to pass the medical examination of temporarily rejected candidates at the New Delhi Base Hospital.
Since the allegations involved the SSB, the matter was addressed at the highest level. SSBs are held for the selection of officers for short and permanent duty commission in the armed forces.
An investigation was launched with the help of Military Intelligence that revealed “sufficient evidence of the guilt of service personnel and civilians as recipients of the money trail.”
The Army detected gross negligence in a selection center for Punjab, which leads Service Selection Board (SSB) tests for officer-level entry into the armed forces.
The case was later turned over to CBI. This case comes on the heels of another case in which two Majors and others were arrested for leaking the examination for the recruitment of jaws.
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