Friday, 10 November 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Uttarakhand High Court on Thursday rejected the bail plea of the three main accused in the Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UKSSSC) recruitment examination scam. The accused are former chairman and former secretary of UKSSSC Raghu Bir Singh Rawat and Manohar Singh Kanyal respectively and the former examination controller Rajendra Singh Pokhariyal. The senior superintendent of police of Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF) Ayush Agrawal said that these accused were arrested in November last year for their alleged involvement in the Village Panchayat Development Officer (VPDO) recruitment scam in 2016. UKSSSC conducted the VPDO exam in March 2016 which was attended by over 80,000 candidates. After the result was declared, the authorities started getting complaints regarding the alleged cheating in the exam. The state government then transferred the investigation of this case to STF in September 2022. The forensic lab confirmed tampering with the OMR sheets of the exam. It was also revealed during the investigation that the exam results were also allegedly decided at the house of one of the accused, Kanyal. After gathering sufficient evidence, the STF arrested Rawat, Kanyal and Pokhariyal in October, 2022. Agrawal said that the bail applications of these three accused were earlier rejected by the Vigilance Court in Dehradun after which they filed a bail petition in the High Court. After analysing the evidence presented by STF, the court rejected their bail pleas on Thursday. The SSP said that STF will continue to present efficient advocacy in court against all accused in the case to ensure they all are brought to justice.
