Navy officers in CBI net in defence test paper leak

Two serving officers of the Indian Navy and two others were arrested by the anti-corruption wing of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Sunday in connection with the lower division clerk (LDC) recruitment examination question paper leak case. The test paper was being sold at a lodge in Crawford Market three days before Sunday’s exam. CBI sleuths suspect the role of an organised defence recruitment racket.

Those arrested include RC Naik, administrative officer at the Western Naval Dockyard, Colaba; DS Murthy, administrative officer at the Eastern Naval Dockyard; Rambir Singh Rawat, a former sailor; and Hoshiyar Singh Rawat, a school teacher from Haryana. Rambir Singh runs around 15 placement agencies in the country, one of which is the Vizag-based Mansa International Defence Recruiting Agency.

According to Rishiraj Singh, joint director, CBI, the agency had reliable information that the question papers of the LDC recruitment examination would be leaked and some insiders were involved in the racket.

The test is being conducted by the Western Naval Command. “Three days ago, these fraudsters had managed to procure the question paper, printed in Pune. Naik,  who received the paper from Pune, had handed it over to Rambir,” said Singh.

He added: “The latter, along with Murthy, made several photo copies of it.”

Around 150 candidates had assembled at United lodge in Crawford market. They paid between Rs15,000 and Rs50,000 to Rambir and Hoshiyar.

“The candidates were informed about the answers to the questions and even guided on the methods to solve the questions. Some had even written down the questions and answers on separate sheets. As many as 138 candidates were present in the lodge at the time of raid,” Singh said.

Several question papers were seized during the joint raid of the CBI and the Mumbai crime branch on Murthy’s room. Cash worth Rs1.84 lakh and a register carrying the names of the candidates and the amount they had paid was also part of the seizure.

“On Sunday morning, we compared the question paper seized from the four with the actual one; both were the same. Murthy has also admitted that he had sold papers for last month’s exams for the same post. We will inform the authorities concerned of the racket and we hope they would take appropriate action,” said Pravin Salunkhe, deputy inspector general, CBI.

Now, the CBI is carrying out searches at two places in Delhi, three in Vizag, and one each in Pune and Kharghar. The quartet has been booked on charges of cheating, criminal conspiracy, misconduct.