Shimla , October 24
Hi-tech investigations into the recruitment scam have revealed vital evidence linking the state Subordinate Services Selection Board and the office of the then Chief Minister, which could land former Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal in serious trouble.
The important breakthrough has been achieved with the help of the Central Forensic Science Laboratory, Hyderabad, which specialises in computer forensics. The Enforcement Department had sent the hard disks of five computers of the former Chief Minister’s office to the laboratory for the retrieval of the deleted data. Using sophisticated software, the computer forensic experts of the laboratory successfully retrieved most of the deleted data.
The retrieved data includes details of thousands of candidates whose names had been recommended for selection from the former Chief Minister’s office. Besides roll numbers and names of the candidates, there were also remarks of the former Chief Minister. The categories of employees for which such information has been retrieved include school lecturers, trained graduate teachers, physical training instructors, vidya upasaks and draughtsmen.
The evidence indicates that the recruitment process was being closely monitored by the Chief Minister’s office. Interestingly, recommendations had even been made for “not selecting” certain candidates on the ground that they professed a different political ideology. This makes it obvious that the board had been sending the list of selected candidates for approval to the Chief Minister’s office, says a senior police officer.
Information regarding the possible involvement of the Chief Minister’s office, a former BJP minister and a BJP legislator in the scam was extracted during police interrogation of Nischal Chaddha, a BJP youth leader from Una district who had allegedly worked as a conduit.
However, with an “unusual” rule under which the entire record pertaining to selections made by the board was destroyed within three months in place, the investigating agencies have been finding it difficult to unearth the alleged politician-board nexus. Even in the Chief Minister’s office, all relevant documents had been deleted and information stored in computers had also been declared before the change of government.
