Police recruitment scam: Vijay Bhatkar distances self from company

According to police, for the past four years, SSG Softwares helped Nanded police with its recruitment process by scanning answer sheets using optical mark recognition.

Vijay Bhatkar, prominent Indian computer scientist and chancellor of Nalanda University, who was closely associated with ETH, the company partly responsible a police recruitment scam, has distanced himself from the actions of its employees.

An aspirant appearing for the police recruitment drive for the post of constable at Shivajinagar Police Headquaters in Pune. (HT FILE PHOTO)

The Nanded police busted a racket during the ongoing recruitment for 69 constables and arrested 14 people.

According to police, for the past four years, SSG Softwares helped Nanded police with its recruitment process by scanning answer sheets using optical mark recognition.

“ETH received the sub-contract from SSG. Five employees from both companies jointly carried out the entire scanning process,” said Chandrakishore Mina, superintendent of police, Nanded.

Bhatkar said, “If anyone has done anything illegal, no matter who, they must be punished.”

The accused used their contacts within the private company to fudge the scores of the written exams. The scam was unearthed after the answer sheets of candidates who scored over 90 per cent were rechecked.

The police have registered a case under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) at the Wazirabad police station.