The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has begun its probe into the police sub-inspector recruitment scam, appointing a deputy superintendent of police (DSP)-rank officer to lead the investigation.

The Odisha crime branch, which was earlier handling the case, has formally handed over all materials and evidence to the central agency. The CBI has also constituted a dedicated team to conduct a thorough inquiry into what is emerging as one of the state’s biggest recruitment scandals.

The Mohan Charan Majhi government had on October 22 announced the transfer of the case to the CBI following widespread public outrage. In a statement, the chief minister’s office (CMO) had said the racket appeared to have an interstate network spread across Odisha, Bengal and Andhra Pradesh. “It is suspected that an organised gang is involved in the crime. To completely root out the corruption and arrest all those involved in the scam, the chief minister has decided to hand over the probe to the CBI,” the CMO said.

The multi-crore job scam came to light after police intercepted three buses travelling to Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh on September 29 and detained 114 candidates who were on their way to appear for the sub-inspector examination scheduled for October 5 and 6. All were later arrested, along with others linked to the racket.

Investigations revealed that the candidates were to be provided with question papers in advance for practice. After rehearsing the answers, they would be transported to the exam centres to write the test. Each candidate had allegedly paid between ₹20 lakh and ₹25 lakh for the arrangement. During their bail applications, however, all candidates denied having paid any money.

The CBI is expected to examine loopholes in the Odisha Police Recruitment Board (OPRB)’s examination process and ascertain whether influential individuals or officials played a role in facilitating the scam. Earlier, the crime branch had arrested the alleged kingpin, Sankar Prusty.

A key focus of the CBI probe will be how a private agency became involved in the examination process. According to sources, ITI Limited, a central PSU entrusted with conducting the recruitment test under the supervision of the OPRB, had sub-leased parts of the work to the Bhubaneswar-based Silicon Techlab. Several crucial tasks were then assigned to Panchsoft Technologies, headed by Prusty, who is believed by investigators to be the mastermind behind the racket.