NEW DELHI: Army's internal probe revealed the cases of paper leak and the connivance of the selection staff in the recruitment process, said Army chief MM Naravane on Tuesday. The chief also said that the investigation so far has revealed the involvement of several civilians.
"There have been few instances, both in the recruitment of soldiers where question paper had leaked and in the selection process for officer cadets where there was connivance between staff at Services Selection Board (SSB).
Both cases came to light because of our own internal probe," said Naravane.
The Army chief said that the case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) as it revealed the involvement of "other parties" and civilians.
"When these cases came to light we realised that there are other parties involved, civilians involved, transactions made to the bank, call records that need to be looked into," said the chief.
"We don't have the authority to do this kind of investigation. So we decided to give it to the CBI," he said.
Army recruitment scamOn March 15, the CBI registered a case against 17 Army officials including a Lieutenant Colonel, a Major, a Naib Subedar, a Sepoy etc., on allegations pertaining to bribery and irregularities in recruitment of officers and other ranks through the Service Selection Board (SSB).
Six private persons and some others were also booked in the case.
The Service Selection Centres (SSCs) carries out the Services Selection Board (SSB) tests. The SSC under the scanner for malpractices is located in the Kapurthala district of Punjab.
On March 14, after detecting malpractices in the officers' selection at its centre in Punjab during a military intelligence operation, the Indian Army handed over the case to the CBI.
Earlier in February, in a joint operation with military intelligence of southern command of the Indian Army, Pune city police had arrested eight accused in this case including two serving defence personnel, a defence civilian and some who were running pre-military training institutes in different parts of the country.
The army recruitment exam scheduled for February 28 was cancelled by the Indian Army after the leak was revealed.
(With inputs from ANI)