PSI recruitment scam: Amrit Paul’s custody ends Friday

BENGALURU: Senior IPS officer and Additional Director General of Police Amrit Paul’s police custody was extended by three days till July 15, by the first additional chief metropolitan magistrate court. Paul was produced before the court on Wednesday. 

The officer was arrested on July 4 in the police sub-inspector (PSI) recruitment scam. The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has registered four cases, eight FIRs and arrested 80 people in the PSI recruitment scam. Paul, who was ADGP - Recruitment, was arrested in the case pertaining to alleged tampering of OMR sheets of candidates, who had reportedly paid money running into lakhs of rupees to clear the examination. 

The prosecution informed the court that former Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP), Recruitment, Shanta Kumar, who was also arrested in the scam, had handed over Rs 1.3 crore which he had allegedly collected from some PSI aspirants, to some people on Paul’s instructions. The prosecution also informed the court that the CID needed the senior IPS officer’s custody to recover the said amount. 

The agency also stated Paul had shared the password of his mobile phone with the CID only on Wednesday, and they would need a couple of days to retrieve data since the officer had reportedly deleted data and formatted his phone.

Court allows Paul to meet family

AMRIT Paul’s phone was sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL), Madiwala. 
On Paul’s request, the court allowed his family to meet him for 30 minutes every day, till his custody ends.
Since the Police Sub-Inspector recruitment scam involves payment by each candidate to clear the exams, the CID will have to establish the money trail in each candidate’s case, and prove it on record to back up oral statements of the witnesses/accused to obtain conviction. The agency had reportedly recovered around Rs 1.75 crore from the house of Sridhar, head constable, Central Armed Reserve (CAR), in May.