Ranchi: The Jharkhand Crime Investigation Department (CID) on Tuesday arrested the wife and brother of Abhay Tiwari, a suspected key figure in recruitment examination irregularities, officials said.
His wife Sushma Kumari and brother Akshay Tiwari were arrested after being questioned for several hours at the agency's office, they said.
With the latest arrests, the number of accused held in connection with the alleged recruitment examination irregularities has risen to 22.
Abhay Tiwari, who was posted as a block supply officer in Poriyahat in Godda district, was arrested by the CID on July 22 in connection with the alleged recruitment examination irregularities.
During the investigation, the CID found that Tiwari had qualified in around 12 competitive examinations over the past 13 years, officials said. These included the 2018 Police Sub-Inspector examination, 2013 Navy SAR examination, 2014 Bhabha Atomic Research Centre assistant examination, IRB constable examination, 2018 CRPF head constable examination and 2014 Northern Coalfields examination, according to the CID.
Tiwari's links with TDPL
Tiwari was a former marketing management employee of TSR Data Processing Pvt Ltd (TDPL), which took the tender for conducting the exams. The state government has cancelled all exams conducted by TDPL since 2014 while meeting the demands of the job aspirants and students who are protesting since July 25 in Ranchi.
The probe team found that Tiwari had also cleared the PGT Teacher and Combined Graduate Level examinations conducted by the JSSC, besides the assistant conservator of forest, forest range officer and food safety officer examinations.
He also qualified the 11th and 13th Jharkhand Combined Civil Services Preliminary examinations conducted by the Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC), officials said.
The CID is verifying records, application forms, documents, evaluation records, selection details and other information provided by examination-conducting agencies concerning Tiwari's candidature, an official said.
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During interrogation, Tiwari allegedly told investigators that different "rate charts" were used for candidates seeking to qualify in various competitive examinations, with amounts ranging from ₹2 lakh to ₹70 lakh, he said.
Meanwhile, the agency also questioned Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) secretary Sudhir Gupta in connection with alleged irregularities in examinations conducted by it.
Gupta was questioned for several hours based on evidence collected during the CID's raid on the JSSC office on Monday, the official said.
The state government on Monday announced the cancellation of the JSSC-Combined Graduate Level (CGL) examination, one of the key demands of protesting students, along with all examinations conducted by outsourced agency TDPL and the results published by it.
Amid the arrests, the protest of the job aspirants and students completed 24 days on Tuesday.
