Bhubaneswar, Oct 27: While the Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had ordered a CBI probe into the high profile Police SI Scam, formal notification was issued in this connection on Monday.
Odisha Advocate General Pitambar Acharya informed it to the Orissa High Court today.
According to Acharya, in pursuance of the CM’s order, the Police SI Scam which was being investigated by the Crime Branch, is handed over to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
The Odisha Home Department issued notification in this connection and wrote letter to the CBI to take over the SI scam probe.
According to a CMO release on last Wednesday, the decision was taken keeping in view the possible involvement of organised criminal syndicates across multiple states as revealed by the state Crime Branch’s investigation.
“So far, the investigation has revealed that the tentacles of this scam may extend to Andhra Pradesh, West Bengal, and other states. There is also suspicion of involvement of inter-state organised criminal gangs. Keeping this in view, to fully expose this racket and to bring all involved criminals within the ambit of the law for exemplary punishment, the Chief Minister has decided to hand over the investigation to the CBI,”
The CM’s decision to transfer the investigation to CBI was seen as a step to bring greater transparency and accountability to the high-profile job scam.
Earlier this month, the Crime Branch arrested four persons, including one of the prime accused in the multi-crore recruitment scam, which came to the fore after the interception of three buses carrying 114 candidates and three agents by the Berhampur Police in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh on September 29 night.
