Another kingpin in police-job scam surrenders in Himachal

Another main accused in the Himachal Pradesh police job scam surrendered on Saturday after remaining in hiding for more than five months. The kingpin—26-year-old

Another main accused in the Himachal Pradesh police job scam surrendered on Saturday after remaining in hiding for more than five months. The kingpin—26-year-old Ketan Chaudhary, son of Kashmir Chaudhary, resident Darkati village in Jawali sub-division—surrendered before senior superintendant of police (SP) Kangra, Vimukt Ranjan.

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Ketan will be produced before a judge tomorrow. The SSP said Ketan was working with Bikram Chaudhary, the main accused in the case who had surrendered on January 3 and is currently in custody.

In August 11, 2019, the Kangra police had busted an impersonation racket during the constable recruitment exam, wherein six youths from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan, who were appearing as solvers, were arrested. They were caught from the examination centre at Paraur, near Palampur, where more than 11,000 candidates were taking exam.

So far, more than 30 people have been arrested in the case, including the aspirants who had hired the services of the imposters. Bikram would hire paper-solvers mostly from Haryana, where he studied till Class 12. Ketan is believed to have helped with logistics, transportation and identification of potential targets.

The imposters used high-tech electronic gadgets such as micro-chips, bluetooth devices and earphones to cheat in the exam, charging ₹5 to 8 lakh from each aspirant to provide services of imposters.

Bikran, during interrogation, had revealed that he was involved in the illegal activity after his business went bust and was running the impersonation racket since 2012. After he spilled the beans, police booked nine cops and also identified employees of other departments who cracked the recruitment exams held from 2012 to 2017.