Ranchi, Dec. 16: The vigilance bureau has completed its probe into the first civil services examinations conducted by Jharkhand Public Service Commission (JPSC) and the tests conducted to recruit co-operative extension officers and audit officers.

Director-general of police Neyaz Ahmed, who also heads the vigilance bureau, told The Telegraph that the report about the first civil services examination had been submitted to the state government, while the report regarding recruitment in the co-operative department would be submitted in a day or two.

The commission conducted the first civil services examinations in 2005 to recruit 64 officials in various categories.

The irregularities in the first civil services examinations included the JPSC decision to get the answer sheets evaluated in various colleges in Santhal Pargana. Also, shortlisting of 900 students for the main examinations after the preliminaries was seen as a surprising move, given that the number is supposed to be 10 times the number of vacancies. Also, 640 were called for interviews instead of 192, thrice the number of vacancies.

The JPSC had also conducted examinations to recruit 235 co-operative extension officers and co-operative audit officers in 2007 and recommended their appointments in 2008. The successful candidates, however, were not given appointment letters.

Refusing to reveal details, the DGP said several irregularities had been detected. “However, the irregularities were not as blatant as found in the second civil services examinations. It is now for the state government to take action,” he said.

The bureau conducted the probe following Governor M..H. Farook’s June 9 order, which asked for an investigation into various examinations conducted by JPSC.

Ahmed admitted that there had not been much progress in the probe into appointment of around 900 lecturers. “There were a huge number of answer sheets, so it will take time,” he said.

Maintaining that the state government was keen to strengthen the vigilance wing, the DGP said retired CBI officer S. Mahto had been appointed as SP and B. Singh as inspector. “They will probe the disproportionate assets cases,” Ahmed added.

He admitted that response to advertisements to hire retired CBI officers had not been good. The DGP said four teams had been dispatched to various districts to nab the accused involved in different scams.

About the investigation into the Games scam, the DGP said the bureau was collecting evidence to build up the case.

Ahmed said 49 government officials were caught red-handed while accepting bribes during the current year.