A police constable was found hanging from a tree in Chhattisgarh’s Rajnandgaon district on Saturday, suspected of being involved in irregularities in a police recruitment drive, an official said.
Police constable Anil Ratnakar (26) was found dead this morning in Rampur village under Lalbagh police station limits, Rajnandgaon Superintendent of Police Mohit Garg said.
Ratnakar, who hails from Mahasamund district, was posted at the Jalaband police station in Khairagarh-Chuikhadan-Gandai (KCG) district and was recently deployed in the constable recruitment drive in Rajnandgaon.
“A letter written with a pen was found on the left palm of Ratnakar, in which the employees are being targeted and the officers are being protected on the allegation of irregularities in the recruitment of employees. “Initially, it appears to be a suicide and further investigation is underway,” said Garg.
The constable recruitment drive for the Rajnandgaon range covering Rajnandgaon, KCG, Mohla-Manpur-Ambagarh Chowki and Kabirdham districts began on November 16 at the premises of the 8th Battalion of the Chhattisgarh Armed Forces (CAF) and is being organized with the technical support of Hyderabad. Timing Technology Company based SP informed.
He said that this company is looking for technical equipment, data storage, etc. used in the admission process.
“Recently, an FIR was registered after fraud was found in the entry of marks obtained by candidates in the physical efficiency test. After this some employees including Ratnakar were removed from recruitment. Police and company employees are being interrogated, he said.
A complaint was filed on December 17 after Tanupriya Thakur, the in-charge of the incident of shooting during the physical efficiency test during the recruitment drive, was found to have cheated on the marks of the candidates.
Meanwhile, the deceased’s brother Sunil Ratnakar has claimed that he spoke to him on the phone on Friday. During the conversation, the deceased claimed that he and other lower level employees were trapped and senior officers were being protected.
The opposition Congress has attacked the BJP government in the state and demanded a high-level probe.
“Rajnandgaon police recruitment scam seems to be a serious matter. What constable Anil Ratnakar wrote on his hand before committing suicide shows the seriousness. The meaning of ’employees getting trapped, officers saving’ is clear @vishnudsai ji. There is corruption. Officers are also involved. Now a high-level inquiry is needed,” said former Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel in a post on X.
The senior Congress leader also posted a picture of Ratnakar’s note.
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