Cop recruitment scam: Three more arrested

The CBI arrested three more people in the alleged irregularities in recruitment of constables in CRPF. They include DIG, CRPF, Muzaffarpur, P S Bakhala, a commandant from Bihar and Jharkhand B S Sidhu and a tout from New Delhi. Sidhu was posted at Daltonganj as commandant of the 134th Battalion. The investigating agency has so far arrested 11 persons in this connection.

Confirming the arrest of these three people, a CBI official said that they were produced before the special CBI court on Thursday itself. DIG Bakhala and commandant Sidhu were taken on police remand for further interrogation in the matter, he said.

A CBI official confided that a well organized racket had been clandestinely going on in the recruitment of constables in the CRPF. Prima facie it appeared that some senior CRPF officials were allegedly involved in the recruitment scam. Everything would come to light after a thorough probe into the matter, he said.

According to CBI sources, the CBI sleuths raided the house of DIG located in Ranchi and recovered several incriminating papers. Similarly, Sidhu's house in Chandigarh too was searched and several incriminating papers and 10 live cartridges were also recovered during a raid by the CBI team, sources said.

Incidentally, CRPF IG Pushkar Singh and several other persons, including middlemen, who were involved in the scam, are among those already arrested by the CBI team from different places across the country.

The investigating agency had seized about Rs 1.15 crore cash and documents relating to fixed deposits during search operation carried out at the IG's office and residential premises, sources said.link