The Pune unit of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday arrested a serving officer of the rank of lieutenant colonel and a constable of the Army Ordnance Corps (AOC) in connection with the leaking of answer keys of the army recruitment exam held in 2020-21.
In this case in December last year, the CBI had registered a case against an Army Ordnance Corps officer along with two other army personnel, a constable and a constable, for allegedly leaking the answer keys. The matter came to light when the CBI, in collaboration with the Indian Army, started an investigation into an old bribery case.
Then in November 2021, two army constables from Pune were arrested on charges of bribery in the process of recruiting civilians in the process of forming an Army Ordnance Corps. Both of them were arrested by the Ordnance Corps, Pune for soliciting and accepting money from candidates in the recruitment process for various civilian Group ‘C’ posts through an examination conducted in 2019.
Investigation had revealed that another Havildar and his controlling officer of the rank of Lieutenant Colonel were involved in another recruitment process for selection of personnel through an examination conducted in 2020-21. Also on September 8, 2021, the lieutenant colonel allegedly sent the answer key of the question paper to a cell phone registered in the name of the constable’s wife. The answer key was then sent from the same number to the phone number of the constable’s wife.
A senior CBI official confirmed that the Lt Col and the constable were arrested on Monday night. Officials of the central agency said that investigation is also being done to find out how the answer keys were leaked to the candidates and how money was exchanged, among other things. After the first crackdown in November, searches were conducted at different premises of the two suspects and incriminating documents were seized.
In a post-action statement issued in November, the Southern Command had said, the Indian Army operates with a policy of zero tolerance to corruption. The army has strict rules to deal with such malpractices and swift investigation is being done to ensure punitive action against the guilty.