Army branch recruitment scam: 13 held guilty, sentencing Dec 24

When a team was sent to Agra, the suspected applicants could not perform well in confirmatory tests. The exam was later cancelled and the case was handed over to the CBI.

KULDEEP PUSHKAR, public prosecutor, CBI

GHAZIABAD: A Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court Friday held 13 persons — including a retired brigadier, his wife and daughter — guilty of cheating and corruption in connection with the army’s branch recruitment exams held in Agra in 1991.

CBI’S public prosecutor Kuldeep Pushkar said the examinations were held in Agra in May 1991 and the copies were later sent to Lucknow for evaluation. During evaluation, the examiners got suspicious and found the handwritings in several answer sheets not matching. These students, they found, scored exceptionally high marks.

“When a team was sent to Agra, the suspected applicants could not perform well in confirmatory tests. The exam was later cancelled and the case was handed over to the CBI. The agency charge-sheeted 27 persons in the case and 13 were found guilty of criminal conspiracy, attempted cheating and forgery. The 13 included retired brigadier Jagjit Singh, his wife Usha Bedi and daughter Bharti besides former army subedar major Hari Chand and hawaldar clerk Vir Bhan among others,” he said.

He added that hawaldar clerk Ashok Kumar was also an accused in the case but he died during the course of trial. The public prosecutor said that the handwriting experts confirmed that the handwriting found on the answer sheets matched that of Usha Bedi, Bharti, Vir Bhan and Hari Chand.

“This raised suspicion that the answer sheets were left blank by suspected candidates, and later, the answers were written by the accused persons,” Pushkar said.

The 13 accused found guilty by CBI Special Judge Rajendra Prasad have been remanded in judicial custody. “The court has decided that the sentencing would be pronounced during a hearing on December 24,” he said.