Arunachal Police claims to have cracked state cash for jobs ‘scam’

Itanagar : The Special Investigation Cell (SIC) of the state police, which is investigating the alleged malpractices in the recent LDC/JSA examination conducted by the Arunachal Pradesh Staff Selection Board (APSSB), said on Friday that it has cracked the ‘modus operandi’ used by the accused in the case.

The SIC has so far arrested five persons, including APSSB under secretary Kapter Ringu and two data entry operators of the board in the case.

“Investigation has revealed that Mongam Basar, one of the accused in the case, acted at the behest of the then undersecretary Ringu. It is alleged that Mongam received money from the candidates and passed it on to Kapter in lieu of getting them selected in the exam. Kapter also received money directly from another set of candidates,” SIC (vigilance) superintendent of police Harsha Vardhan said in statement on Friday.

“After the examination was conducted on February 2, 2020, the trunks containing the used OMR sheets and other exam materials were brought to the strong room in the APSSB’s office. Kapter aided by data entry operator Khem Raj then went about tampering the OMR sheets. Kapter entered into the strong room at various times, including outside office hours, using the keys available with her on February 3 and 4. She then filled up the OMR sheets of the candidates who had paid money in lieu of clearing the exam and placed them back in the trunks,” the SP said.

The SP added that another data entry operator Tame Tania helped Kapter tamper with CCTV footage once the issue of malpractices came to light through social media on February 14.

Also Read: 3, including under secy, held in Arunachal APSSB malpractices case

“We have also confirmed that the two arrested data entry operators, Tame Tania and Khem Raj, had also appeared in the examination as candidates and qualified for the skill test. Their OMR sheets were also tampered to favor them by Kapter,” Harsha Vardhan said.

The SP said that the SIC is now ascertaining the total number of candidates who paid money or benefited unduly through the malpractices in the exam.

Further giving out the current status of the arrested persons, the SP said that Kapter, Mongam and Khem Raj continue to be in police custody.

“Senia Bagang, (one of the candidates arrested in the case) has recently been granted bail by the court on the ground that she is a feeding mother to a 5-month-old baby. Tame Tania was granted bail by the court on Thursday because of a pre-existing severe medical condition,” the SP said while appealing the people not to believe in rumors in this regard.

Harsha Vardhan said that the SIC has also seized electronic evidences in the case and they are being processed in an appropriate manner.

“The SIC has also seized the bank account of Kapter Ringu. We are committed to conducting this investigation in a professional and evidence-based manner to unearth the truth. Investigation is still under process to figure out various other aspects of the case,” he said.