Jaipur: Rajasthan Police’s special operations group (SOG) is probing how a private firm that had come under scrutiny in Uttar Pradesh was awarded a contract to scan optical mark recognition (OMR) answer sheets for recruitment examinations in Rajasthan. Sources in the SOG said the New Delhi-based firm, Rabhav Ltd, was hired in 2019 to scan OMR sheets for three exams conducted by Rajasthan Subordinate and Ministerial Services Selection Board: Supervisor (Women Empowerment) exam 2018, Laboratory Assistant exam 2018, and Agriculture Supervisor exam 2018. Though the exams were for 2018 posts, they were held in 2019, around the period when the SOG suspects the firm was facing questions in Uttar Pradesh. The inquiry gained momentum after SOG Tuesday arrested five people for allegedly manipulating scanned OMR sheets using photo-editing to inflate marks. Those arrested are the board’s technical head Sanjay Mathur, programmer Pravin Gangwal, two employees of the firm—Shadan Khan and Vinod Kumar Gaur—and a candidate, Poonam Mathur. “The firm has a dubious record. In 2018-19, its name surfaced in a recruitment exam in UP, in which the wife of one of the company’s officials was selected,” an officer said. Investigators are trying to establish whether the firm disclosed its status in the Uttar Pradesh matter to the Rajasthan board before securing the scanning contract. “Preliminary findings suggest the firm received the Rajasthan contract after the developments in Uttar Pradesh. However, we are verifying documentary records,” an officer said.
SOG probes how ‘tainted’ pvt firm got contract for exams | Jaipur News
