The CBI has arrested BSF Commandant (Medical) Karnail Singh for allegedly using touts to get his son the question paper of the police sub-inspectors recruitment examination conducted by the Jammu and Kashmir Services Selection Board (JKSSB), officials said on Wednesday.
The Border Security Force (BSF) official was taken into custody on Tuesday and he will be produced before the special Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) court in Jammu later in the day, they said.
During the probe, the agency had found that Singh allegedly entered into a conspiracy with touts, and as part of it, arranged a leaked question paper for his son through one of them.
The question paper was allegedly provided to him early in the morning on the day of the examination, March 27, at a house in Gangyal in Jammu.
It is alleged that some other candidates also got the leaked question paper at Singh's residence just a few hours before the examination.
"It was further alleged that the accused manipulated and tampered the log book of the (his) official vehicle in a deliberate attempt to destroy evidence and was also evasive throughout during the investigation," a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.
Investigation has revealed that alleged payment of Rs 20-Rs 30 lakh was made by willing candidates and their families to the accused for accessing the question paper before the examination began, it said.
The CBI has also named Avinash Gupta, owner of a coaching centre in Jammu and Kashmir's Akhnoor, and a Bengaluru-based company in the FIR, the officials said.
The Jammu and Kashmir administration had cancelled the police sub-inspector recruitment process in July following allegations of irregularities and recommended a CBI probe.
It was alleged that there were irregularities in the written examination held on March 27.
"The results were declared on 04.06.2022. There were allegations regarding malpractice in the examination. The Jammu and Kashmir government had constituted an inquiry committee to look into the same," the CBI had said in a statement following searches on August 5.
"It was alleged that the accused entered into a conspiracy amongst officials of the JKSSB, Bengaluru-based private company, beneficiary candidates and others, and caused gross irregularities in conduct of written examination for the posts of sub-inspectors," it had said.
The inquiry report showed that there was an "abnormally high percentage" of candidates who were selected from Jammu, Rajouri and Samba districts, the agency had said.
"Violation of rules by JKSSB was allegedly found in assigning the task of setting question paper to a Bengaluru-based private company," it had said.