The CBI carried out searches at Base Hospital, Cantonment, other Army establishments at several locations across India.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Monday carried out searches at 30 locations across the country in connection with the Army recruitment scam. The agency has also booked 23 people, including Lieutenant Colonel, Major, Naib Subedar, Sepoy and others.
The CBI carried out searches at Base Hospital, Cantonment, other Army establishments, civilian areas in Kapurthala, Bathinda, Delhi, Kaithal, Palwal, Lucknow, Bareilly, Gorakhpur, Vishakhapatnam, Jaipur, Guwahati, Jorhat and Chirangon.
Sources said the agency has recovered several incriminating documents during the searches. The documents are being further scrutinized.
The CBI action comes following allegations pertaining to bribery and irregularities in the recruitment of officers and other ranks through Service Selection Board (SSB).
The agency said that Lt Col Surender Singh of 31 SSB centre North; Lt Col YS Chauhan of 6 Mountain Division Ordnance Unit; Lt Col Sukhdev Arora of Directorate General of Recruiting; Lt Col Vinay, GTO, Selection Centre South, Bangalore; and Major Bhavesh Kumar allegedly facilitated the selection of candidates through SSB.
It is alleged that bribes in several lakh rupees were paid to the officers and their relatives through cheques, cash, RTGS, UPI for the selection of candidates.
Undisclosed amount of bribes were received from 10-15 candidates by Lt Col Surender Singh and Major Bhavesh Kumar through their relatives who have also been booked.
The agency has named wife of Maj Bhavesh Kumar Devyani, his father Surender Kumar and mother Usha Kumawat in the FIR as accused for allegedly receiving money.
Bhupender Bajaj, brother-in-law of Lt Col Surender Singh and one Pragati Singh who received funds on behalf of Naib Subedar Kuldeep Singh have also been named in the list of accused.
Among other booked by the CBI include father-son duo Havildar Pawan Kumar and his son Neeraj, Major Amit Fagna of field hospital, Delhi Cantonment, Naik Parvinder Jeet Singh, Sepoy Rohit Kanwar, Havildar Rajesh Kumar and Havildar Harpal Singh.
It is alleged that Havildar Pawan Kumar paid bribes of at least Rs four lakh to Major Bhavesh Kumar and Rs 50,000 to Kuldeep Singh besides undisclosed amount of cash for the selection of his son Neeraj in SSB for NDA in December, 2020.
Lieutenant Navjot Singh Kanwar paid bribe of Rs 10 lakh to Lt Col Bhagwan through bank transfers to Kuldeep Singh and his friend Pragati while Cadets Hemant Dagar and Inderjeet in OTA made their way by paying illegal gratification to Major Bhavesh Kumar, the complaint alleged.
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