HCS exam scam: Vigilance to procure 'dump footage' of CCTV cameras

Geetanjali Gayatri

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, November 28

The dump of the CCTV footage of cameras installed in the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) office for the period of the conduct of the HCS examination on September 12 will be procured by the Vigilance Bureau for investigation, while it has already taken into possession the recordings in the run-up to the examination for the recruitment of dental surgeons.

Rs1.08 cr was seized

• The complainant approached agent with Rs20 lakh.
• The Bureau caught agent Naveen red handed.
• A resident of Jhajjar, Ashwini, was arresed after Naveen gave out his name.
• He ran a company, which scanned OMR sheets for these exams.
• The Bureau recovered Rs1.08 cr from his residence.

Sources maintained that the Bureau was also looking into a list of 30 candidates, 17 dental surgeons and 13 HSC aspirants, found in chats of the 2016-batch HCS officer Anil Nagar, a deputy secretary in the HPSC, and the other accused.

The OMR sheets of the examination, in the custody of the Vigilance, will be examined for the forensic team. “They will look for difference of ink in the marking of answers, the difference in strokes used to mark the answers, among other things,” sources maintained.

The arrest of the officer and two others came following a complaint to the Bureau by a Panchkula resident. Acting swiftly, the Bureau did its entire homework, prepared an action plan and apprised Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar of the developments who gave his nod. Within a few hours of receiving the information, the Vigilance launched the “operation”.

Sources said that modus operandi involved the “interested” candidates contacting the agents who would finalise the “deal” and advise the candidate on how the exam was to be attempted, asking them not fill too many circles.

After the exam, the candidates were required to hand over their copy of the OMR sheets to the agent who would “organise” the marking and take his payment.

The tip-off came from a complainant who had approached the Bureau with the information that an agent was demanding Rs 40 lakh per candidate for the recruitment of a dental surgeon. He had expressed his apprehension that the HCS exam conducted prior to this could have been compromised as well.

The complainant explained that his candidate had appeared in the exam. After the exam, the agent, Naveen, a former government employee, approached him and asked him to submit the actual OMR copy (there are three copies of which two are retained by the HPSC and sent for marking, while one is handed back to the candidate). Before handing over the copies to the agent, the candidate, with the idea of exposing this scam, clicked a picture of his original OMR sheet.

It was decided that the complainant would approach the agent with Rs 20 lakh and the Bureau caught the agent, Naveen, red-handed. A resident of Jhajjar, Ashwini, was nabbed after Naveen gave out his name. He ran a company which scanned the OMR sheets for these exams. The Bureau recovered Rs 1.08 crore from his residence.

He spilled the beans on Nagar and that the money was meant for him. The Bureau then laid another trap in which Ashwini called up Nagar, told him he wanted to deliver the money. The HCS officer asked him to come to the HPSC office. Nagar was nabbed in the presence of a duty magistrate as soon as he accepted the cash.

Sources in the Vigilance Bureau said the entire amount had been recovered and there were no likely further linkages in this case. “Two other agents are on the run and search for them is on,” sources said.

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