J&K Services Selection Board scam: CBI arrests BSF medical officer

New Delhi, Oct 19: The CBI has arrested Border Security Force medical officer Karnail Singh in connection with alleged irregularities in the recruitment of sub-inspectors by the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB), officials said on Wednesday.

Singh was taken into custody on Tuesday and will be produced before the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court later in the day, they said. The CBI has also named Avinash Gupta, owner of a coaching centre in Jammu and Kashmir's Akhnoor, and a Bengaluru-based company in the FIR, they said.

The Jammu and Kashmir administration had cancelled the police sub-inspector recruitment process in July following allegations of irregularities and recommended a CBI probe into the selection process. It was alleged that there were irregularities in the written examination held on March 27.

"The results were declared on 04.06.2022. There were allegations regarding malpractices in the examination. The Jammu and Kashmir government had constituted an inquiry committee to look into the same.

It was alleged that the accused entered into conspiracy amongst officials of JKSSB, Bengaluru-based private company, beneficiary candidates and others, and caused gross irregularities in conduct of written examination for the posts of sub-inspectors," the agency had said in a statement following the searches on August 5.

The inquiry reported showed that there was an "abnormally high percentage" of candidates who were selected from Jammu, Rajouri and Samba districts, it had said. "Violation of rules by JKSSB was allegedly found in assigning the task of setting question paper to a Bengaluru-based private company," it had said.