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Chandigarh: 2 held for landing fireman job using impersonator
Those arrested have been identified as Deepak, 32, posted at the fire station in Sector 32, and Bijender, 25, posted at the fire station in Sector 17, Chandigarh
Chandigarh Police have arrested two firemen working with the Chandigarh fire department for clearing the recruitment examination in 2021 through impersonators.
Those arrested have been identified as Deepak, 32, posted at the fire station in Sector 32, and Bijender, 25, posted at the fire station in Sector 17.
Both were arrested from their stations on Wednesday. “The duo confessed to have paid ₹10 lakh each to impersonators for sitting in their recruitment exam in place of them in 2021,” said a senior police officer, privy to investigations.
They are facing charges under Sections 419, 420, 465, 466, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code.
Investigation into ASI recruitment scam blew the lid
The impersonation came to fore during investigation into the ASI recruitment scam from August 2023. During the investigation, records regarding the written examination test for firemen recruitment, which was held on October 27, 2021, was obtained from the chief coordinator, UIAMS exam, Panjab University.
On examination of the obtained record, seating plan and CCTV footage, it was found that the photographs of three candidates, Naveen, Deepak and Bijender, all hailing from Sonepat, Haryana, did not match with the candidates who had appeared in the examination.
It was then established that impersonators were sent to appear in the exam. Police zeroed in on Satish Kumar, one of the impersonators in the ASI recruitment scam, who was found to have also sent fake candidates for the firemen recruitment exam.
The Chandigarh Police had conducted the written examination for recruitment to 44 posts of ASI (executive) on August 27, 2023.
Impersonator Satish Kumar, 28, of Bajana village, Sonepat, was found appearing in place of Ashish Malik, 24, a judo player from Panipat and the son of a Haryana sub-inspector. Satish eventually flunked the exam. Further probe had led to the arrest of Ashish and Satish’s co-accused Dalbir Singh, 42, also from Sonepat.
Mastermind runs well-oiled gang
“Satish hold an MSc in maths and is the mastermind of the recruitment scam,” said a senior police officer.
During interrogation into the ASI recruitment scam, Satish Kumar in his disclosure statement had said he, along with his friends, namely Sombir, Robin and others, had been training fake candidates to appear in place of actual candidates, and they also appeared in the written exam of firemen recruitment.
Satish further disclosed that he had also cleared the HSSC exam for the post of Haryana Police GD Constable instead of his nephew Jaideep.
For further investigation, on November 9, 2023, a letter was sent to the chief controller of exam, Haryana Staff Selection Commission, for obtaining the record of above said examination batch, which is still pending.
