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5 Lt Colonels, 2 Majors among 17 Army personnel booked by CBI in recruitment scam
The agency teams on Monday carried out raids at 30 locations across 13 cities including the Army’s Base Hospital in Delhi Cantonment Area.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a corruption and criminal conspiracy case against 17 Indian Army personnel, including five Lieutenant Colonels and two Major-ranked officers apart from six others, in a recruitment scam at several Service Selection Board (SSB) Centres.
The agency teams on Monday carried out raids at 30 locations across 13 cities including the Army’s Base Hospital in Delhi Cantonment Area, residences of several accused in Bhatinda, Kapurthala, Kaithal, Palwal, Lucknow, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Visakhapatnam, Jaipur, Guwahati and Jorhat, CBI Spokesperson R C Joshi said.
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Among the officers named in the CBI First Information Report (FIR) are - Lt Col MVSNA Bhagwan (presently on study leave), who is also the alleged mastermind; Lt Col Surender Singh of 31 SSB centre North; Lt Col YS Chauhan of 6 Mountain Division Ordnance Unit; Lt Col Sukhdev Arora - Directorate General Recruiting; Lt Col Vinay (Group Testing Officer- Selection Centre South Bangalore); Major Bhavesh Kumar (GTO at 21 SSB, Kapurthala) and Major Amit Fagna (422, Field Hospital, Delhi Cantt). According to the CBI, all of them facilitated the selection of the candidates at SSBs.
The central anti-corruption agency registered its case on March 13 on a complaint filed by Brigadier (Vigilance) VK Purohit from the office of Additional Directorate General, Discipline and Vigilance, Adjutant General's Branch, Army Headquarters. It is alleged that on February 28, 2021, input was received about the alleged involvement of serving personnel in accepting bribes for the clearance of review medical exam of temporarily rejected officer candidates at Base Hospital, New Delhi.
It is alleged that bribes in lakhs were paid to the officers and their relatives/family members through cheques, cash, RTGS, UPI, for the selection of candidates.
For example, an undisclosed amount of bribes were received from 10-15 candidates by Lt Col Surender Singh and Major Bhavesh Kumar through their relatives who have also been booked. The CBI has named Major Kumar’s wife Devyani, father Surender Kumar and mother Usha Kumawat as accused as well in the scam for allegedly receiving money.
Similarly, Lt Col Surender Singh’s brother-in-law Bhupender Bajaj and one Pragati Singh received bribes on behalf of Naib Subedar Kuldeep Singh, another key player in the racket.
Apart from senior ranking officers, other army personnel named in the case include Naib Subedar Kuldeep Singh; Havildar Pawan Kumar; Naik Parwinder Jeet Singh; Sepoys Kuldeep Singh and Rohit Kanwar; Havildar Rajesh Kumar and Havildar Harpal Singh; Lieutenant Navjot Singh Kanwar and Cadets Inderjeet and Hemant Dagar.
The Army said in its complaint that there is sufficient evidence of culpability of civilians and service personnel as the recipient of bribery. It said that to take the case to a logical turn so that the accused do not go scot-free, the matter is given to the CBI.
There was no statement from the Army on Monday.
