Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren facing criticism from the BJP over the death of aspirants during excise department constable recruitment drive has directed for a "thorough" probe into the incident.

Jharkhand director general of police (DGP) Anurag Gupta told The Telegraph that acting on the directive of the chief minister, it has been decided to lodge an "unnatural death" case in all the death incidents during the constable recruitment drive.

“The chief minister wants to know the exact reason for the unfortunate death of the aspirants. We have ordered for lodging of unnatural death cases in all deaths and awaiting the post-mortem reports. The objective is to know the exact cause of the death, whether they (aspirants) had some prior illness or whether there were lapses in terms of arrangements at the recruitment drive centres. We would also want to know if some candidates had consumed some things which had led to worsening of their health conditions,” said Gupta.

So far, 12 aspirants have died during the ongoing physical endurance tests as part of the recruitment drive to the posts of constables in the excise department.

Doctors have said the reasons for the deaths could range from non-preparation by the candidates for the strenuous physical test and the humid weather. It was also believed that some of the candidates were taking steroids, which took a toll on their health.

The ongoing recruitment drive is for 583 posts of excise constables and is being conducted at seven centres Jharkhand Jaguar campus in Ranchi, Police Line in Giridih, Jharkhand Armed Police Training Centre in Hazaribag, Chiyanki aerodrome in Palamu, CTC Musabani in East Singhbhum and Jharkhand Armed Police-9 campus in Sahibganj with each centre being allotted 74,400 candidates.

Jharkhand police spokesperson and IG (operations) Amol Homkar had said on Sunday, "Unfortunately, four candidates died in Palamu, two deaths each were recorded in Giridih and Hazaribag while one candidate died at Jharkhand Jaguar, CTC Musabani and Sahibganj centres each. We have registered cases of unnatural deaths in connection with the incident and are trying to ascertain the causes. Further action will be taken according to laws."

One aspirant died at Palamu on Monday taking the toll to 12.

The drive is scheduled to run till September 4, with a board headed by an IPS officer conducting physical tests at each centre.

Homkar further said the Jharkhand Staff Selection Committee, which is overseeing the recruitment tests, had taken all possible steps to ensure that aspirants received medical assistance whenever required.

"The candidates are being provided drinking water and packets of ORS. Physical tests are scheduled early so that the applicants do not have to toil in the hottest part of the day. Medical camps, adequate medicines, ambulances, stretchers, beds and mobile toilets are available at all the centres," he said.

The route for endurance runs has CCTV surveillance and police personnel deployed at various locations so that the candidates facing health problems can be given treatment immediately.

A total of 1,27,772 aspirants appeared for the physical tests until August 30, out of which 78,023 cleared the tests.

Opposition BJP has alleged that these deaths have occurred due to a lack of better management by the officials and claimed that the chief minister had asked to complete the recruitment drive in a hurry before the assembly polls leading to the conduct of the physical test in humid conditions.

BJP state president Babulal Marandi has demanded a judicial probe into the matter, compensation and government jobs for the dependents of the deceased.