A lady CRPF officer was arrested from Ranchi on Thursday night for her alleged involvement in a racket for recruiting "medically unfit" youths as constables in the paramilitary force.
Accused Vinita Kumari, deputy commandant of the 133rd battalion of CRPF, was produced on Friday before special CBI judge Bal Krishna Tiwari, who remanded the officer in 14-day judicial custody.
Sleuths of the CBI's anti-corruption branch rounded up Vinita from her Alokapuri residence in Dibdih in the heart of the capital on Thursday night in connection with a scam that allegedly took place during the CRPF recruitment drives held in Ranchi and Ramgarh in 2015.
CBI sources said that Vinita's husband, Arvind Kumar Singh, a doctor who earlier worked with the CRPF on contract basis, was also picked up from his residence in Dum Dum, Calcutta, on Thursday.
SP, CBI (anti-corruption branch), S.K. Khare said that the lady CRPF officer had been forwarded to Birsa Munda Central Jail while her husband, Dr Arvind Kumar Singh, was being questioned to ascertain whether he was also involved in the racket.
The SP added that Vinita used to collect Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000 from a candidate declared "unfit" in the medical examination, and give him a "fit certificate", a must to get a constable's job in the paramilitary force.
"After collecting the money, she used to pay some portion of it to doctors of the medical board to declare a medically unfit candidate fit, paving the way for his recruitment into the force," the CBI officer said.
Asked about the number of candidates who had joined the force with "fake fit certificates", Khare said: "It is being ascertained... is part of the investigations."
Sources said several roll numbers and other documents were recovered from Vinita's house during the raid on Thursday.
"We will not like to share details of the items seized/recovered. But we have certainly recovered many documents, which indicate her involvement in corrupt practices," the CBI SP added.
After interrogations, the CBI has brought charges of corruption against the CRPF officer. "She was produced before the residence judge on Kanke Road around 4pm on Friday as the court hour was over by the time her interrogation concluded," a CBI source said.
CBI sources said that Dr Arvind Kumar was being questioned in Calcutta.
"It is being suspected that he, being a doctor, used his contacts to influence members of the CRPF medical board to declare medically unfit candidates fit in lieu of money," said a CBI officer on condition of anonymity.
