THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: For the first time in its history, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has recruited an official from the state excise department on deputation to the agency.
The CBI has recruited P Muraleedharan, who is the circle inspector of excise, Kasaragod, to the premier investigating agency on deputation for three years. He is one of the three officers selected to serve in the agency on deputation from the state. Two other police officers have also been selected to fill in the three vacancies available in the special crime branch, Thiruvananthapuram, of the CBI.
Even though the CBI regularly recruits officials who are serving in the state police and vigilance whenever vacancy is reported, it is for the first time that it has recruited an official from the excise department. The CBI had written to the excise commissioner asking if anyone is willing to join the agency. As many as five excise officials had applied for deputation from the excise, out of which the agency has selected one of them.
Though it is the serving officers in the state agencies who are drawn on deputation, the recruitment is not a mere formality. The officials are to appear for a written examination in the first round. “The intention is to test their capacity on legal and procedural matters. Questions are asked to test their knowledge of Indian Penal Code, criminal procedure code and Evidence Act,” top sources said.
Once they clear the written test, they would be interviewed by a panel consisting of top CBI officials. This year, the interview board consisted of the joint director of CBI, a senior SP and a public prosecutor. “Different situations would be narrated and then we would be asked on how would we proceed in such situations,” one of the candidates who appeared for the interview said.
Once the interview is also satisfactory, the agency would then go through the candidate’s past records, annual confidential reports and then shortlist the candidate. Once this procedure is over, there would also be a confidential verification of the officer from various sources by the counter-intelligence cell of the agency and that completes the selection process.
The CBI, formed under the Delhi Police Special Establishment Act, also draws its manpower from a range of investigating agencies, other than the direct recruitment. The agency operates Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) and special crimes bureau (SCB) in various states categorized under various zones. In the state, it runs an ACB and SCB in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram, respectively, under the Chennai zone.