In Rampur village of Rajnandgaon district of Chhattisgarh, a police constable who was accused of irregularities in the constable recruitment examination committed suicide on Saturday on the charge of trying to implicate the lower level police. This incident has fueled political controversy in the state.
The incident took place on the day when six people including four police constables were arrested on the charge of falsifying marks in constable recruitment examination held on November 16 in the district. The admission process was found hanging from a tree in the village.
A note written in Hindi on the palm of his hand reportedly said: “They are attached staffs (constables) and they are trying to protect the officers. Everyone is involved.”
Ratnakar joined the force in 2021 and was posted in Khairagarh district.
Speaking about the alleged suicide, Mohit Garg, Superintendent of Police, Rajnandgaon, told The Indian Express: “He was on duty for constable recruitment since November 16. We had recently registered an FIR due to fraud in candidates… be it the police or a private company providing technical assistance to everyone. The question has been raised. Anil has said that the officers are being given security…it is a serious issue and appropriate action will be taken.
The FIR, which was registered on December 17 based on the complaint filed by Deputy Superintendent of Police Tanupriya Thakur, claimed that there was some manipulation in the marking system of the short putt which is part of the physical assessment test. According to the complaint, Thakur, who was in charge of the admission process committee, was found to have scored more marks even though some candidates performed poorly.
“After the matter came out, we sacked more than 10 people, including some policemen. We have found 30 entries so far,” he said.
Two computer operators of a private company who were responsible for recording the scores were also arrested.
Former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has expressed concern over the suicide of a police constable in a social media post.
“The corruption in police recruitment in Rajnandgaon appears to be very serious as the material written by constable Anil Ratnakar before committing suicide suggests that the workers were trapped while protecting the officers. This means the officers are involved (Chief Minister) Bishnu Dev Sai Ji,” Baghel said, demanding a high-level probe into the allegations.
On the other hand, the police constable’s family claimed that he was innocent and claimed that he was removed from duty after being accused. His brother Sunil told the media that his phone was also confiscated.
“He borrowed the phone and called me last night to tell me that he had been lied to and that they were being tortured one by one. He said that others on duty were also involved but they falsely accused us employees (Police) and they are making us scapegoats,’ he said.
Why should you buy our membership?
You want to be the smartest in the room.
You want access to our award-winning journalism.
You don’t want to be confused and misinformed.
Choose your subscription package