CID grills JPSC former chairman for 7 hours over exam 'irregularities', holds raids in18 locations

Jharkhand Public Service Commission former chairman L Khiangte was grilled by CID sleuths for around seven hours on Monday over alleged irregularities in the examinations conducted by the JPSC, an official said.

This was the fourth round of questioning that the JPSC former chairman faced.

He appeared before CID sleuths around 11 am and came out of the agency's office around 6 pm, the official said.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) had earlier questioned Khiangte for nine hours on July 28 and eight hours each on July 29 and July 31.

Khiangte resigned as the JPSC chairman on July 22, a day before the CID searched multiple locations, including his official residence, in connection with the alleged irregularities in the JPSC examinations.

On July 27, Khiangte said he "voluntarily chose to resign" to ensure an impartial investigation into the matter.

Khiangte was appointed JPSC chairman in February last year after he retired as the state's chief secretary.

The CID has so far arrested 11 people in connection with the alleged irregularities in the examinations conducted by the JPSC, while the commission postponed the JPSC Combined Civil Services Mains Exam, scheduled from July 25 to July 27, citing "unavoidable circumstances", amid protests by the opposition BJP.

Meanwhile, the CID, with police assistance, conducted raids at 18 locations across the Ranchi, Palamu, Hazaribagh, Bokaro, and Dhanbad districts of Jharkhand on Monday as part of its investigation into alleged irregularities in various examinations conducted by JPSC.

"The raids led to the recovery of essential documents and electronic devices such as laptops and mobile phones related to the irregularities, as well as bank passbooks and cheque books, carbon copies of candidates' OMR sheets, admit cards, and marksheets," the CID said in a press release.