Invigilator wrote copies for candidates in police recruitment: ACO

Lucknow, Feb 5 (UNI) Even as the Uttar Pradesh government recommended a CBI probe into police recruitment scam, the Anti-Corruption Organisation (ACO) has found that in at least one case, an invigilator wrote the answer copies for as many as 45 candidates.

All the candidates were selected as police constables by one of the boards in Gorakhpur. The invigilator, said to be a Deputy SP level officer, was also part of the Gorakhpur recruitment board.

The ACO was probing 42 FIRs lodged in connection with the recruitment racket. After the handwriting of at least 45 candidates was found to be identical, investigators sent samples of the hand writing of some of the suspects as well. The experts were believed to have confirmed that the handwriting of one of the suspects was identical to that found in the answer copies of 45 different candidates.

Investigators had also sent to the forensic lab in Hyderabad the hard disk and CDs belonging to the recruitment boards, seized by the special investigating team constituted by the CM in May, 2007.

Terming the scam as 'sensitive', Chief Minister Mayawati had yesterday recommended handing over the scam case, which had taken place during the earlier Mulayam Singh Yadav regime in the state, to the CBI.

She made it clear the case had been recommended to the premier investigating agency in view of its senstivity as the probe committee had found prima facie the involvement of senior politicians like the former PWD minister (Shiv Pal Yadav) and the then Director General of POlice (DGP). ''The prima facie findings have revealed that the money changed hand in recruitment of police personnel between the years 2004-06,'' she pointed out.

As many as 55 recruitment boards had been set up and after the preliminary probe, the recruitment of 18,884 constables was cancelled by the Mayawati government. Twenty five IPS officers in the rank of IGs, DIGs, SPs were suspended after the initial probe into the complaints of irregularities had been committed in the recruitment.

They were later re-instated after submitting an apology to the CM.

The CM said the inquiry also found that the posts for which the irregular appointments were made never existed.

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