Thursday, May 17, 2018

Probe in TNPSC scam picks up pace 
 
Main Suspect Granted Bail By City Court

K Sureshkumar & A Selvaraj TNN

Chennai: 17.05.2018

The Central Crime Branch probeintotheTNPSC Group-I officers recruitment scam picked up steam even as a city sessions court granted anticipatory bail to promoter of a coaching institute that accountedfor 62of 74Group-1 officers selected more than a year ago.

The XV additional sessions judge (vacation judge), S Purushothaman, granted anticipatory bail to Apollo Study Centre’s Sam Rajeswaran, but directed him not to leave the country without the court’s permission.

The CCB had said, in response to the remand plea of TNPSC section officer Kasi Ram Kumar, that 62 of 74 officers selected after the 2016 examination were from Apollo.

Most of the recruited officersdid notjoin duty after the scam hit the headlines and prompted the Madras high court to bar their postings till the conclusion of the case.

The CCB has stepped up the pace of the investigation by nominating SP-rank officer Shyamala Devi to lead the probe. Investigators, who suspect that middlemen question paper drafters, evaluators, TNPSC officials and others received ₹1 crore per candidate, have arrested four people,including Kasi, in connection with the scam.

The city police cybercrime wing initially investigatedthecasebeforetheforgery wing of the CCB took over.

On Wednesday, the prosecution lodged a “strong objection” against Rajeswaran’s anticipatory bail plea, arguing that the high court had already given the go-ahead to the CCB to the probe the case. The investigation was proceeding in the right manner,the prosecution said.

Additional sessions judge Purushothaman,however, allowed the bail application concurring with the submission of Rajeswaran’s counsel that the CCB had not recovered any document againstthe petitioner, even after the arrestof four TNPSCsection officers. He granted Rajeswaran anticipatory bail on the condition that appear before the investigating officer every Monday for eight weeks.

The CCB’s remand application of April 26, seeking judicial custody of Kasi, stated that Kasi confessed to the offences and admitted to conspiracy with Rajeswaran. The application said the CCB arrested Kasi based on evidence seized in a raid on Apollo Study Centre on January 28.

Information that investigators gathered through the seizure from the study centre of various documents, phone numbers and model question papers revealed a clear picture of the crime and its modus operandi,including illegalfavours that section officer Kasi performed for gain on behalf of Rajeswaran, the remand memo said. 


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