The arrested aspirants had allegedly paid Rs 10 lakh in advance to a racket for securing jobs.
The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the crime branch wing of Odisha police, probing the alleged job-for-cash scam involving the recruitment of Sub Inspector of Police competitive examination, on Saturday said "it has found prima facie evidence of operation of an organized criminal syndicate to subvert the entire examination process by adopting unfair means for monetary gain".
It may be noted here that the combined Police Service Examination, 2024, which was scheduled to be held on October 5 and 6, was postponed by the Odisha Police Recruitment Board (OPRB) after 117 job aspirants, including three middlemen, were arrested in Berhampur.
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The arrested aspirants had allegedly paid Rs 10 lakh in advance to a racket for securing jobs. The accused persons, including the middlemen, were apprehended while they were on the way to a 'special coaching centre' in Andhra Pradesh.
"Biswaranjan Behera (29), a resident of Bidyadharpur under Barang police limits in Cuttack district, being a part of the crime syndicate actively took part in contacting the aspiring candidates as per the instruction of the head of the syndicate, collected original certificates and blank cheques from them in lieu of providing questions papers for the examination and handed over the same to his next leader in the hierarchy. The actions on the part of the accused Biswaranjan Behera clearly indicate a clear conspiracy among the criminals and executed the works as directed by the leaders", the Odisha CID said in a statement on Saturday.
Based on the evidence found against Behera, he was apprehended, followed by his interrogation, examination and seizure of incriminating materials. He was later arrested on 3 October and forwarded to the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class in Berhampur today under relevant sections of BNS and Odisha Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024.
Investigation of the case is in progress by multiple teams to apprehend the main conspirator, concluded the CID in the statement.