Jaipur: In Jan 2025, TOI reported how Rajasthan Police feared that the 2021 SI recruitment exam would open the police force’s doors to relatives and children of hardened criminals, history-sheeters, opium traffickers, bootleggers, and even men accused of double murder. Those fears were vindicated when Special Operations Group (SOG) found mafia-linked candidates among the top ranks.In Oct last year, SOG arrested trainee SIs Priyanka Kumari (28) and her brother Dinesh Ram (27), both children of notorious opium trafficker Bhagirath Ram. Investigators said Bhagirath, jailed in 2021, cut deals with the exam mafia inside prison, working with paper leak kingpin Bhupendra Saran’s brother Gopal and trafficker Om Prakash alias Fauji. Bhagirath allegedly paid Rs 20 lakh to buy a leaked paper for his children. SOG, in its 2024 report, warned the govt of this very risk. “Empowering organised criminals through such a compromised selection process would create an atmosphere of fear and instability in society. Preventing this should be a priority,” the report said, noting that mafia-linked recruits slipped into uniform. Sources said that SOG also received reports of other relatives of narcotics cartels and bootleggers set to join the force.The danger lay not just in one exam. As the SIT underlined, sub-inspectors become second-in-command at police stations and later station house officers. They are tasked with stopping land mafias, curbing liquor bootleggers, and cracking down on drug traffickers. “Will an SI who colluded with organised gangs to clear the exam ever act against them?” the SIT asked.A senior officer admitted Rajasthan Police suffered before. “Dubious entrants tarnished the force in the past. Some ended up in graft cases, others in oil theft. This exam threatened more of the same,” he said.SIT added that identifying every tainted recruit may never be possible. While some have been exposed, many who used dummy candidates remain buried in the system. “Even tracing the dummies could take years,” the report stated.
SOG report warned of criminal infiltration in Raj Police force | Jaipur News
