Odisha police on Thursday busted a racket involving fake job promises for Agniveer recruits and arrested two serving Indian Navy officers and one civilian in connection with the scam.
The arrested navy personnel have been identified as Satyam Chahar and Vinay Kumar Ray, currently posted at INS Kesari (Andaman & Nicobar) and INS Chilika, respectively. A third accused, Bhooshan, is a civilian. Police said two more navy officials are under the scanner and could be arrested soon.
According to sources, Bhooshan, 25, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, was earlier selected for the Indian Navy but was discharged after failing to complete training. He and Chahar allegedly targeted Agniveer aspirants, particularly from Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and other northern states.
Khurda SP Sagarika Nath told The Telegraph, “An FIR was lodged on April 19 based on a complaint filed by Lieutenant Commander Adwitiya Singh, training correspondence officer at INS Chilika. The complaint alleged that during the induction process for Agniveers, certain individuals extorted money from candidates by offering illegal assistance and threatening them.”
Nath said the accused were part of various WhatsApp and Telegram groups that guided aspirants through the recruitment documentation process, giving them access to candidate information even before results were officially announced.
“They would call candidates who had cleared the Agniveer written exam held on November 24 and demand money ranging from ₹30,000 to ₹1.2 lakh, promising help with selection,” Nath said.