As part of its investigation into the sub-inspector (SI) recruitment scam, the Crime Branch has turned its lens on coaching centres with the agency conducting searches at Vanik coaching institute, reported Ashish Mehta of The New Indian Express.

During the raids, CB officers examined Vanik’s database to find out the details of students’ who had enrolled in the coaching centre. Sources said out of the 114 candidates arrested by Berhampur police, six to seven had taken coaching in Vanik, founded by BJD leader Subrat Chhatoi. 

Vanik’s management, however, maintained that it has done no wrong and is completely cooperating with the investigating agency. 

However, this is not for the first time the coaching centre finds itself under scanner. In April last year, the Income Tax department had raided property linked to Vanik. A year before, Central Goods and Services Tax (CGST) had also raided various branches of the institute.

CB sources said middle-men engaged by the crime syndicate had approached several job aspirants while they were undertaking coaching in various centres. “The syndicate’s modus operandi was to establish contacts with candidates at various coaching centres and offer them jobs against kickbacks ranging from `15 lakh to `25 lakh.”

Investigation suggested that the question paper for the SI examination was printed at a press in West Bengal and members of the syndicate somehow got their hands on a rough copy.

With key conspirator Sankar Prusty still at large, CB officers said the seized mobile phones of the arrested candidates will be sent to the State Forensic Science Laboratory here to extract crucial information related to the scam.