3 successful candidates depose before court in HSSC cash-for-jobs case

CHANDIGARH: Three successful candidates, who fell into the trap of Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) staffers accused of running the cash-for-jobs scam, on Tuesday deposed before the court in Panchkula. The court has, meanwhile, remanded the seven accused to the judicial custody while extending the two-day police remand for HSSC cashier Anil Kumar Sharma.
Special investigation team (SIT) head Dheeraj Setia said the court had allowed Sharma’s custody as besides money, some crucial documents and central processing units (CPUs) had to be recovered from him. He said the SIT had to ascertain details about three more suspects from Sharma. “One suspect is known to him while the other two suspect were his common friends with Dharminder Singh, manpower contractor of the HSSC and an accused in the case,” said the officer.

Referring to the witness who deposed before the court, Setia said they were crucial link in the case. While deposing before the court, three candidates, who hailed from Rohtak, Sonipat and Sirsa, had elaborated on how the accused had approached them and how they had held negotiations with them.

The Rohtak candidate elaborated that one of the acquaintance of the accused had approached him and informed him about his result. He had struck a deal for Rs 4 lakh and the amount was paid near the railway crossings of Sector 19, Panchkula.

The Sonipat man informed court that he had applied for the post of a driver. He too was approached by one of the accused who demanded Rs 3 lakh. Finally, the deal was settled for Rs 2 lakh, which was handed over to the accused at the Zirakpur bus stand in Mohali district of Punjab.

The third man had struck the deal for the post of multi-purpose health worker (MPHW) and clerk. He and his relative had applied for these posts. The accused had demanded Rs 8 lakh and finally settled for Rs 7.25 lakh.

The accused was arrested before the money could exchange hands. “The man had escaped before making payment. However, we have the records as we had intercepted the conversation and the candidate has identified his voice and of the accused whom he had met,” said Setia.

Referring to further course of action, Setia said the SIT had started the process to summon 30 government officials who were shortlisted for questioning after their names cropped up during investigation. He said the police teams were conducting raids to arrest three suspects identified during four days of investigations in the matter.

On April 4, the chief minister flying squad had arrested nine people, eight from Panchkula and one from Jind. Five out eight arrested in Panchkula were staffers of the HSSC. They were arrested after a trap was laid following the allegations of cash-for-jobs racket in the commission.