Jaipur: A day after booking 31 education department employees for securing government jobs through fraudulent means, the Rajasthan Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG) Thursday registered one more FIR, taking the total number of accused to 65 in connection with the use of unfair means in recruitment examinations.ADG (SOG) V K Singh confirmed that four FIRs were filed in the past two days. “This action follows a list of 297 suspicious employees submitted by the education department after intensive internal scrutiny,” he said. Singh said the FIRs have been registered under various sections of the IPC, as well as the Rajasthan Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act, 2022, and the Rajasthan Public Examination (Use of Unfair Means) Act, 1992.“Cases related to examinations conducted before the 2022 anti-cheating law came into effect have been booked under the earlier 1992 Act,” he added.Sources indicated that the number of employees likely to be booked in connection with the examination racket could rise to 150 in the coming days. While three FIRs were lodged Wednesday, a fourth was registered Thursday. The accused include teachers, physical training instructors (PTIs), librarians, lab assistants, junior assistants, lecturers, and senior teachers—all allegedly recruited using fake documents, impersonators, or dummy candidates over the past five years.Singh said the crackdown was triggered by a stream of complaints submitted through a dedicated SOG helpline, alleging fraudulent recruitment practices in govt jobs. “After verifying some of the complaints through preliminary inquiries, we alerted the state govt,” he said.In response, the department of personnel (DoP), through a letter dated June 6, 2024, directed all govt departments to constitute internal verification committees. These panels were tasked with verifying if the individuals currently employed were the same persons who appeared in the recruitment exams. Documents such as educational certificates, application forms, photos, and signatures were examined.“The education department constituted divisional and district-level verification committees, which flagged a significant number of anomalies,” Singh told TOI.At a press conference Thursday, DIG (SOG) Paris Deshmukh said the education department submitted a list of 297 employees, based on findings by verification panels. “So far, we’ve registered four FIRs against 65 individuals, and further investigation is ongoing against others on the list,” he said.SOG officials revealed that several types of fraud were uncovered—including mismatched photographs and signatures, forged degrees, and impersonation during exams. Many of the accused continue to serve in govt schools across various districts. Officials also confirmed that over 40 govt departments have now formed similar verification committees to audit recruitments made in the last five years.
