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Five more people, including four job aspirants, have been arrested in connection with the probe into alleged irregularities in the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) examinations, which triggered protests and an indefinite hunger strike in Ranchi.
In a statement late on Wednesday, the Jharkhand Police’s Crime Investigation Department (CID) identified the five as Umakant Oraon, Rakshak Singh, Roshan Kerketta, and Manoj Kumar, who had cleared the preliminary state civil services examination and doubled up as agents for a syndicate, and Dharmendra Kumar, a computer operator with a former JPSC chairman.
The fresh arrests were made on the day the student protest against the irregularities entered its 12th day, and the state government was likely to hold talks to discuss their demands. The state government reached out to the students on Wednesday and invited them for talks.
The government is expected to form a committee of ministers and bureaucrats to look into the student demands, including handing over the probe into the irregularities to the CBI, cancelling all recruitment exams TSR Data Processing Private Limited (TDPL) conducted on the JPSC’s behalf, and systematic reforms to check malpractices in the examination process in the future.
The Jharkhand Police have arrested 19 people since registering a case in July over irregularities in the civil services preliminary examination. Those arrested include job aspirants, JPSC officials and employees of TDPL.
The JPSC postponed the Combined Civil Services Mains Examination scheduled from July 25 to 27, citing “unavoidable circumstances” amid mounting protests. The CID has questioned former JPSC chairman L Khiangte four times since July 28.
Jharkhand Krantikari Loktantrik Morcha leader Devendra Nath Mahto has been on an indefinite hunger strike against the alleged recruitment irregularities.
Chief minister Hemant Soren on Tuesday said that the government was awaiting the CID’s investigation report. “Once we have the findings, we will act accordingly and inform the students and the state about the resulting decisions.”
Activist Sonam Wangchuk, whose hunger strike galvanised the student protests in Delhi that ended with Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation over exam irregularities last month, on Wednesday spoke to Mahto and urged him to at least have water and salt, while expressing solidarity with his protest.
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