Odisha SI exam postponement sparks protest; Oppn accuses BJP of 'multi-crore job scam'

BHUBANEWSWAR: Hundreds of aspirants held a demonstration in Bhubaneswar on Friday after the written test for the recruitment of police sub-inspectors was postponed again. The written test of the Combined Police Service Examination, 2024, was supposed to be held on October 5 and 6, but was postponed by the Odisha Police Recruitment Board (OPRB) after 117 people were arrested in Berhampur.

Of those arrested, 114 were aspirants and had allegedly paid Rs 10 lakh as an advance to a racket for securing the jobs. They were nabbed on the way to a 'special coaching centre' in Andhra Pradesh, according to the police. The rest three are suspected brokers who facilitated the deals, they said.

A total of 1.53 lakh candidates have applied for 933 police sub-inspector posts, for which the recruitment is being made. The examination was first scheduled on March 8 and 9, then postponed to October 5 and 6, before being rescheduled again.

Hundreds of aspirants demonstrated near the State Library in Bhubaneswar, seeking "justice". They accused the OPRB of "gross negligence" and alleged that it facilitated the "malpractices".

'BJP, Odisha govt are directly involved': BJD

The opposition Congress and BJD also left no stone unturned to corner the BJP government over the issue, alleging that a multi-crore job scam was happening in the state. The BJD released purported photos of some state ministers with a person, whose company it claimed was given the contract for conducting the exam and alleged that he had spearheaded the scam.

"These photos indicate that the state government and BJP leaders were directly involved in the irregularities," alleged BJD students' wing president Ipsita Sahoo, seeking a CBI probe.

She claimed the state government cancelled 16 recruitment examinations in the last 15 months due to irregularities. She also questioned what the point was in arresting the aspirants and not the racketeers who took the money, promising them jobs.

"Only three brokers were arrested, while others are roaming freely. High-ranking officials of the state government and BJP leaders were backing the racket that sabotaged the examination," she alleged.

State Congress spokesperson Bibhuti Mohapatra alleged that the son of a former senior police officer is among the arrested aspirants. "Therefore, we suspect that senior officials and BJP leaders are involved in the racket," he said.

State BJP president Manmohan Samal rejected the allegations, maintaining that the state government believes in transparency and therefore postponed the examination. "Had that been a case, why did the state government postpone the examination on its own after getting information of sabotage?" he said when asked about the opposition's claims.