Officials of the CBI’s Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) from Pune say that they will investigate the involvement of senior Army officers in the “recruitment scam” at the National Defence Academy. Colonel Kulbir Singh, who is the staff officer of NDA Commandant Lt. Gen. Jatinder Singh, was arrested by CBI sleuths on Saturday from the Colaba Military Station and brought to Pune on Sunday.
Col. Singh and the five others were produced at the Shivajinagar court in Pune, which has remanded them to police custody till July 2. The five include NDA employee Ramesh Gaikwad and four others — Balkishan Kanojia, Vishnu Sharma, Dattatray Shitkal and Manoj Shitkal. Searches were also conducted at 14 places in Pune and one place each in Mumbai, Gurgaon and Sonepat, which include the residences of the accused persons, and some of the candidates.
From the residence of Singh, officials recovered `4 lakhs in cash apart from recoveries from the residences of some of the accomplices and candidates. The total amount seized is worth `1.76 crore from the various places.
The remand application filed before the Pune court said that the CBI wishes to investigate the modus operandi used by the accused and to gauge the extent of their association with other such candidates who were desirous of applying for the posts.
Singh is accused of illegally appointing candidates for the 97 advertised posts of clerks, driver, gardener, cooks and cleaners in return for hefty bribes. “We will also investigate the money trail and the candidates who have benefited,” said a CBI officer from Pune, requesting anonymity. Singh allegedly demanded `3 to 4 lakhs from each prospective candidate in return for “filling correct answers” on the answer sheets by asking them to leave the paper blank. A statement from the NDA confirmed the arrest and said the academy is extending full cooperation to the CBI by providing the documents.