A CORRESPONDENT
ITANAGAR: After nine months, the Special Investigation Cell (SIC) filed the charge-sheet against 19 persons involved in the LDC job scam conducted by the APSSB (Arunachal Pradesh Staff Selection Board), in the Court of Special Judge, Yupia here on Monday.
Addressing media persons at Secretariat Conference Hall here, SP (SIC) M Harsh Vardhan informed that following a comprehensive investigation by SIC, a charge-sheet — comprising more than 800 pages — has been filed against those 19 persons.
The SP further stated that a supplementary charge-sheet will be filed later as there is more data to be retrieved from the electronic devices seized by the SIC. "Once the report is received, we will submit it as a supplementary charge-sheet to the Court," he added.
"More candidates are under investigation; and they will be dealt with as per law in the supplementary charge-sheet," he said, adding that the SIC is examining every aspect of evidence.
He added that the SIC has used 'approver evidence', which is allowed by the Court, adding that it helped a lot in investigating the case. "We have ' four approver evidences' in the case. But, we won't disclose their details for security reasons," he added.
When asked about the latest departmental action on the main accused, KapterRingu (the then Under Secretary APSSB), the SP said that as an investigating agency, the SIC only investigated the case under the Prevention of Corruption Acts.
"The departmental action will be handled by the department concerned or the State government," he said, adding that the SIC has frizzed KapterRingu's bank account containing more than Rs 1 crore.
The SIC has already submitted the 'links' of KapterRingu with other officers of State service in the LDC job scam to the department for further inquiry, he said.
The SP also said that the then APSSB Secretary SK Jain, Chairman and member of APSSB were examined but no evidence was found of criminal involvement. If there was any, the SIC would have taken action on it, he added.
The SP also disclosed that APSSB software vendor Surojit Das and the then APSSB Under Secretary KapterRingu had also conspired to manipulate the skill test. He further said that software vendor Das was supposed to prepare the question paper for skill test; and it was almost approved.
Meanwhile, with the arrest of MoliBasar in connection to the UDC job scam, the number of the arrested persons in the scam has risen to four. The SP said that the MoliBasar was arrested based on evidence found from the electronic devices.
Basar was a candidate for the UDC exam and had qualified in the examination. The SIC had to arrest Basar as he was not cooperating with the SIC for interrogation. The SIC is also making efforts to bring concrete conclusions to the UDC job scam, he added.
The SIC had earlier registered two separate cases related to the APSSB scam in the month for UDC and LDC examination on February 16. The UDC job scam case was registered subsequently on the facts that were found during the investigation of the LDC job scam.
On March 3, a high-level inquiry committee was constituted headed by Principal Resident Commissioner Jitendra Narayan and Home Commissioner KalingTayeng. On the same day, SK jain was put under suspension by the State government by an order by the Governor. The high-level Inquiry Committee submitted its final report on March 24, 2020.
The malpractice in the LDC and Junior Secretariat Assistant (JSA) examination came to light soon after the results were declared on February 14 last, when a blank OMR sheet bearing the roll number 2025546 started doing the rounds on social media. The candidate with the roll number had qualified for the skill test, which had raised alarm among the other candidates. Soon after, the SIC initiated an inquiry into the matter and the candidate, identified as Senia Bagang, along with alleged broker Mongam Basar, was arrested by the SIC on February 18 this year. A non-bailable warrant was issued against Kapter Ringu who was arrested on February 20.
The APSSB's data entry operators, Khem Raj and Tame Tania, were arrested on February 19 and 20, respectively, for tampering with the examination process. It emerged later that Raj and Tania had also appeared for the LDC/JSA examination, and had been selected for the skill test.
The APSSB is the pet project of Chief Minister Pema Khandu, who had said that illegal appointments in the State would be curbed after the formation of the APSSB. However, that was before the Board was caught in this cash-for-job scam.
Also Watch: Contractor attacks journalists in Mancachar