Officers of the Central Bureau of Investigation on Saturday said that
one of the complainants against corrupt Indian Army personnel Hawaldar
Rajeev Rajput, is himself a son of a former defence personnel. The
complainant got suspicious when Rajput demanded `1 lakh for leaking
the entrance exam question paper, and another `1 lakh for providing
help during the interview.
The CBI’s Anti-Corruption Bureau caught Rajput red-handed at this
applicant’s residence at a defence servicemen’s colony in Navy Nagar
on Friday. The complainant’s father has retired from service, and the
son, who was recruited on compassionate grounds, wanted to serve in a
higher rank. Hence, he had responded to the new recruitment
advertisements and come in contact with the accused.
Rajput, who is posted with the Command Naval Works Engineer’s office,
is originally from the Indian Army but assists Navy personnel in
engineering services.
According to officials, Rajput is posted in Goa and routinely comes to
Mumbai to “assist” senior officers with the recruitment process. “We
are investigating the extent of his operations, and will also find out
if there were similar victims in the other places he was posted.
Moreover, it seems that senior officers might not be involved, since
the Navy has already washed its hands off Rajput. So far, it looks
like he operated independently,” said a senior CBI official
investigating the case said.
The officer also added that the application forms that were already
filled were again opened and shown to candidates. Rajput took money in
return of pointing out “discrepancies” in these forms. “After
scrutinising the application forms, Rajput identified mistakes before
calling the applicant to the office to make the supposed corrections
in return of `3,000. He also guaranteed ‘help’ during the interview,
where he claimed to be one of the panel members. For this he charged
`1 lakh,” the officer said.
Meanwhile, Rajput has been remanded to police custody till May 9.