Key accused’s assets worth ₹10.5 crore attached: Police
DEHRADUN: Assets worth ₹10.5crore of the key accused in the Uttarakhand subordinate service selection commission (UKSSSC) paper leak case have been attached, a police official familiar with the matter said on Sunday.
Police identified the prime accused as Chandan Singh Manral, a resident of Nainital. In December last year, Uttarakhand police’s special task force (STF) had submitted a report to Dehradun district magistrate for the attachment of his assets, the police official quoted above, who requested anonymity, said.
The attached assets included a stone crusher worth ₹4 crore, and land worth ₹ 2 crore, added the official.
Sharing details of the development, STF senior superintendent of police (SSP) Ayush Aggarwal said, “In December last year, we submitted our report to Dehradun district magistrate regarding the attachment of illegally acquired assets by Chandan Singh Manral.”
“His assets worth ₹10.5 crore have now been attached. The attached assets included a stone crusher worth ₹ 4 crore, and land worth ₹ 2 crore,” said Aggarwal.
In September last year, the STF had invoked the Uttar Pradesh Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act against 21 accused, including Chandan Singh Manral, in connection with the paper leak case and other recruitment scams.
Later, the STF had also slapped Gangsters Act against three more accused, taking the number of accused to be booked under the stringent act to 24.
According to the officials familiar with the matter, there is a provision under Section 14 of the Gangster Act, “to attach the movable and immovable property acquired by the accused through illegal activities.”
Earlier on May 12, SSP Agarwal had said that of the 24 accused, they have so far submitted reports for the attachment of assets of six accused Hakam Singh Rawat, Ankit Ramola, Chandan Singh Manral, Jayjeet Das, Manoj Joshi and Deepak Sharma. The total value of assets acquired by these six accused is ₹17.85 crore, said police.
On July 22 this year, a case was registered at the Raipur police station in Dehradun under Section 420 (fraud) of the Indian Penal Code in connection with the alleged irregularities in UKSSSC graduate level paper.
The FIR was registered after an association of unemployed youths submitted a memorandum to chief minister Pushkar Singh Dham who ordered the director general of police Ashok Kumar to take necessary action into the matter.
On August 20 last year, the STF had arrested Manral in connection with the case.
According to the STF officials, Manral was also involved in a previous government recruitment exam conducted in 2021 and “earned wealth running in crores with the illegal money received from candidates”. The STF said Manral had taken the candidates to a house in Dhampur in Bijnor district of Uttar Pradesh where they were provided with the UKSSSC graduate level leaked question paper in connivance with other accused.
Recently, the STF made its 45th arrest in the case. According to the officials, the STF is investigating four cases registered for irregularities in the graduate level, secretariat guard, van daroga, and village panchayat development officer (VPDO), 2016, examinations.
According to the senior superintendent of police, “Till date, 45 accused have been arrested in graduate level exam, five in van daroga exam, one in secretariat guard, six in VPDO 2016 exam.”