Raipur: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has intensified its investigation into the alleged irregularities linked to Chhattisgarh Public Service Examination (CGPSC) launching a crackdown on multiple locations of the state on Wednesday, August 7.
The agency officials raided multiple locations across separate districts linked to various candidates whose selections in the CGPSC examination 2021 are under scrutiny of the agencies investigating the matter. This includes raids on premises linked to Taman Singh Sonwani, former chairman of CGPSC, Rajendra Shukla, a leader of the Indian National Congress party and a former
The sleuths of the agency raided the house of the then chairman Sonwani in Sabarda village of Kurud along raiding the premises linked to Rajendra Shukla in Bilaspur. The raids in Kurud follows a similar crackdown launched by the agency’s officials at Bhilai based residence of Sonwani in July this year.
As many as two premises linked to Shukla in Yadunandan Nagar and Tifra were also raided by the officials in Bilaspur. Shukla’s son Swarnim was one of the candidates selected after the examination result which soon landed in controversy after allegations linked to irregularities and nepotism in selection of candidate surfaced.
Multiple locations raided in Bhilai of Durg
Other than Shukla and Sonwani, the officials of the agency also raided multiple locations linked to other selected candidates in Bhilai. Here the officials raided house of L Dhruv, Deputy Inspector General of Police, Kanker. Dhruv’s daughter was also among the candidates selected in the said examination.
A team of the investigative agency also reached at premises linked to Rajendra Kaushik another selected candidate of the same batch along conducting search operations at house of Amrit Xalxo, a former Indian Administrative Service (IAS) official. Xalxo’s daughter Neha and son Nikhil were both selected after the final PSC examination of 2021.
CGPSC examination 2021 and allegations of irregularities
It is to be noted that the State’s Public Service Commission landed in major controversy after it declared the list of successful candidates for CGPSC 2021 in April last year. The list includes relatives of a few congress leaders, senior bureaucrats, and seasoned businessmen.
Escalating the row over alleged irregularities, a post by an anonymous PSC aspirant on social media further stormed the state’s political galleries after the aspirants made serious allegations about the selection process of the candidates and claimed that a couple of drug addicts also got selected in the examination.
In the viral post, the user who had introduced himself as a CGPSC aspirant claimed that a few acquaintances of one of his casual friends were well aware of the questions of the main papers, way before the exam was conducted by the commission.
This prompted the then opposition Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) to launch a state-wide protest against the then Bhupesh Baghel’s-led Congress government over the issue. The party’s youth wing, along with the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) also joined the fray by launching aggressive protests against the alleged nepotism and fraud in the examination
The state-wide demonstration and anger among the youths led former minister and senior BJP leader, Nanhki Ram Kanwar filing a petition in the high court demanding action against the selection of as many as 18 candidates of the said examination.
Hearing on the petition, the division bench of Bilaspur High Court halted the appointments of as many as 18 candidates whose selection has been questioned by the Kanwar. The court sought during the hearing, further observed that the selection of all these candidates was too much of a coincidence.
The controversy surrounding the allegations of nepotism and fraud also inspired BJP to make it a prime issue in the run-up to the state assembly elections prompting an assurance from Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself that those behind the fraud will be sent behind the bars no matter how powerful they are if BJP is voted to power in the state assembly elections.
After securing a thumping majority in the state assembly, Chief Minister (CM), Vishnu Deo Sai after holding its first full fledged meeting of cabinet announced that the state government will approach the CBI for a fair investigation into the matter as promised by the party before the assembly polls.
Notably, CM Sai in April this year announced that allegations pertaining to the PSC examination will be investigated by the CBI. “Irregularities in the CGPSC examination 2021 will be investigated by the CBI, the Union Government has issued a notification for the same today,” informed Vishnu Deo Sai on April 25.
