Srinagar: The Jammu and Kashmir ACB has booked officials including the chairmen, members of the technical committee, and officials of the Fire and Emergency Services(F&ES) Department after it established 109 applicants were fraudulently hired in the 2020 recruitment drive, officials said on Thursday.
The said candidates received lower scores than the cutoff but were declared successful, according to the first case the union territory's Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) has registered in 2025.
The departmental recruitment board members, F&ES officials, and the private examination agency, were booked under provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and the Indian Penal Code (IPC). They were accused of multiple charges including forgery, criminal conspiracy, and cheating.
How did fraud come to light?
The ACB, in a statement, stated that the discrepancies were detected during a manual review of Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets against the official answer keys. "Candidates who actually secured 11, 17, and 24 marks were shown to have scored 90 marks each in the final selection list," the statement read. Five real brothers from the Budgam district, several relatives of F&ES officials, and others from the same localities were among those selected, according to the ACB.
Cancellation of exam
The recruitment drive, initially advertised in 2013, faced multiple delays amid allegations of irregularities. The ACB claimed that the procedure was relaunched in 2018 under the Transparent Recruitment Process (TRP) method, with written exams being administered by M/s Timing Technologies India Pvt. Ltd, a Hyderabad-based company. However, the government cancelled the exams in 2019 owing to claims of widespread copying and other irregularities.
In 2020, Kolkata-based M/s UMC Technology Pvt. Ltd emerged as the lowest bidder (L-1) in the tendering process for conducting the written exams. In spite of this, M/s LMES IT LLP, the second-lowest bidder (L-2), was given the contract without explanation. The ACB pointed out that one of LMES's primary partners, Maharaj Krishan Wali, had previously been connected to the defunct M/s Timing Technologies India Pvt. Ltd., and that the organization lacked demonstrated experience in carrying out such extensive hiring processes.
Fabrication of results
The probe highlighted systemic manipulation in both the tendering and examination processes, according to the ACB. Question papers were reportedly beyond the comprehension level of candidates with the required minimum qualification of 8th standard. Additionally, selection lists were allegedly fabricated to benefit certain individuals.
"The recruitment board members, technical committee, and F&ES officials colluded with LMES IT LLP to manipulate the selection process and award the contract unlawfully. This resulted in the preparation of fake records to favour specific candidates," the ACB stated.
The ACB is further probing the case to uncover the full extent of the conspiracy and hold all involved accountable.
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