Recruitment scam: Naval officer held

The CBI made the first arrest of a uniformed naval officer in the navy recruitment scam.

The CBI made the first arrest of a uniformed naval officer in the navy recruitment scam.

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The CBI's anti-corruption branch on Tuesday arrested Commander R.C. Saini (52) of INS Angre in Navy Nagar for leaking a hard copy of the question paper for the Lower Division Clerk (LDC) exam.

He allegedly handed over the paper to R.C. Naik, administrative officer (AO) of Western Naval Dockyard.

Naik, who is a non-uniformed naval employee, was arrested along with three others on September 26, the day the exam was to be held, for leaking the question paper to candidates.

The others arrested include DS Murthy, AO of Eastern Naval Dockyard, Rambir Singh Rawat, former sailor and owner of Mansa International Defence Recruitment Agency in Visakhapatnam and Haryana-based teacher Hoshiyar Singh Rawat.

Saini was the president of the exam board constituted by the navy, while Naik was a member.

Praveen Salunke, deputy inspector general, CBI, confirmed Saini's arrest.

Both Saini and Naik had gone to Pune for two days (September 16-18), to get the question papers printed, the CBI said.

The papers were printed at Atharva Consultancy and Allied Services, a press on Sinhagad Road, near Pune.