Himachal Pradesh Police constable recruitment exam: CBI to probe paper leak, announces CM

File photo of Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur (Credits: PTI)

Shimla: Himachal Pradesh Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Tuesday evening said the CBI will probe the police constable recruitment paper leak case. The decision has come amid mounting criticism of the state government over the issue, with the Opposition Congress pressing for a High Court-monitored CBI probe.

Earlier this month, amid reports of the paper leak, the Himachal Pradesh government had cancelled the written test conducted in March to recruit police constables and constituted an SIT to probe the matter.

Thakur said the decision to hand over the probe has been taken to ensure a fair and impartial inquiry.

The other reason for handing over the probe to the central agency is the inter-state aspect of the crime, Thakur told reporters at his official residence in Shimla.

The SIT probing the case till now has found criminals living in 10 different states of the country, he added.

The chief minister also praised the SIT over the probe done by it, saying so far 73 people have been arrested in this case. The SIT has seized a sum of Rs 8.49 lakh besides 15 mobile phones and a laptop, he added.

A written test to recruit 1,334 constables in the state police force was conducted on March 27 this year in which 75,000 candidates had appeared after clearing physical tests.

This was for the second time within three years that the state government nullified the examination.

Earlier in the day, state Youth Congress activists started a chain hunger strike outside the Shimla deputy commissioner's office, demanding a High Court-monitored probe and the suspension of the state DGP.

Senior Congress leader Mukesh Agnihotri told reporters in Chandigarh that a fair probe could not be expected under the SIT and demanded that an HC-monitored CBI probe be ordered.

Agnihotri said this is the second time in three years that the state has cancelled an exam to select constables.

The chief minister, who holds the home department portfolio, should step down on moral grounds, the Leader of the Opposition in the state Assembly said.

He also accused the BJP government of not fulfilling promises.

"The party gained power in the name of reducing unemployment and inflation but these had instead doubled during their regime. They talked of giving four-time compensation for land acquisition for the national highways in Himachal but later went back on their promise," he said.

He alleged that sand, forest and land mafia flourished under the BJP regime.

The Jai Ram regime is banking on event management by bringing the party's top leaders from Delhi for various events, he said apparently referring to the state Assembly poll later this year.

He said the BJP government in the state earlier talked of bringing Rs 1 lakh crore worth of investment "but no investments have come".