In a massive action pertaining to the recruitment scam case, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday, 15 March, conducted searches at 30 places in several states, as it registered a case against 17 army personnel, including six lieutenant colonels, one major, one naib subedar and one havildar. The family members of several personnel were also among those booked.
A CBI spokesperson said that multiple teams of the agency carried out searches at 30 locations, including Base Hospital, cantonment, other army establishments and civilian areas in 13 cities – Kapurthala, Bhathinda, Delhi, Kaithal, Palwal, Lucknow, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Vishakhapatnam, Jaipur, Guwahati, Jorhat and Chirangon.
The official said that several incriminating documents have been seized during the searches and are being scrutinised.
The CBI had registered a case on 13 March on a complaint from the office of Additional Directorate General, Discipline and Vigilance, Adjutant General's Branch, Integrated Headquarter of Ministry of Defence (Army), DHQ PO, New Delhi.
The CBI has booked the personnel and others over allegations pertaining to bribery and irregularities in recruitment of officers and other ranks through Service Selection Board (SSB).
The following people have been named by the investigation agency:
- Naib Subedar Kuldeep Singh, posted at Base Hospital Delhi Cantonment,
- Lt Colonel MVSNA Bhagwan, posted at Army Air Defence Corps (on leave) Vishakhapatnam,
- Major Bhavesh Kumar, Group Testing Officer, 31 SSB Selection Centre North, Kapurthala,
- Lt Colonel Singh, posted at 31 SSB Kapurthala,
- Lt Colonel YS Chauhan, 6 Mountain Division Ordinance Unit, Bareilly,
- Lt Colonel Sukhdev Arora, Joint Director, DG Rect., Directorate General Recruiting, New Delhi,
- Lt Colonel Vinay, GTO Selection Centre, South Bengaluru,
- Lt Navjot Singh Kanwar, 12 Grenadiers/ 21 Mountain Division, Guwahati, Assam,
- Cadet Hemant Dagar, SSC (Tech) 53, OTA Chennai,
- Cadet Indrajeet, NCC (SPL) Entry 47, OTA Chennai,
- Havildar Pawan Kumar, Army Service Corps Centre, Bengaluru.
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