Bhubaneswar, 2 November (H.S.): In a major breakthrough, the Crime Branch has arrested the key conspirator of the Odisha Sub-Inspector (SI) recruitment scam, Shankar Prusty, from Uttarakhand near the India-Nepal border. Prusty had been on the run since the scam came to light and was reportedly hiding along the Nepal border.

According to officials, three special teams of the Crime Branch had been conducting extensive operations across multiple states to trace and apprehend him. With his arrest, the total number of middlemen nabbed in the case has risen to ten.

The accused is being brought back to Odisha on transit remand for further interrogation. Earlier, the Crime Branch had arrested two of his close associates — Muna Mohanty and Rinku Moharana — who were allegedly approaching SI candidates on Prusty’s behalf.

The Odisha Police Recruitment Board (OPRB) had assigned the examination work to ITI Limited, a central public sector undertaking based in Kolkata. ITI later subcontracted the task to Silicon Techlab in Bhubaneswar, which further handed over key operations to Panchsoft Technologies, headed by Prusty.

Investigations have revealed that Prusty had planned to take selected candidates to Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and Chhattisgarh for “training” sessions just days before the now-postponed Combined Police Service Examination (CPSE) 2024.

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Hindusthan Samachar / Monalisa Panda