The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) interrogated four people in connection with the Odisha Police Sub-Inspector (SI) recruitment scam, marking the first phase of interrogation after the agency officially took over the investigation earlier this month.
Sources reported that 10 people were initially summoned, but only four appeared before investigators. The questioning lasted nearly eight hours at the CBI office in Bhubaneswar. One of those interrogated is a candidate who was previously arrested by the Odisha Crime Branch and later released on bail.
All four individuals were allowed to leave after questioning. Investigators said that information provided during these sessions would be cross-checked against documents and electronic evidence collected so far.
The interrogation follows a notification issued by the Government of India on November 11, which authorised a CBI probe into the SI recruitment irregularities. The order was issued by the Ministry of Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions.
The sensational case involves alleged tampering of examination data and unauthorised access to digital systems during the recruitment process. The CBI is now examining how the alleged manipulation occurred, who facilitated it, and whether monetary transactions were involved.
Before the transfer of the probe, the Odisha Crime Branch had conducted multiple rounds of interrogation and obtained judicial custody of the key accused, Shankar Prusty.
Earlier this month, the Crime Branch moved a court in Berhampur seeking permission to conduct polygraph tests on Shankar Prusty, head of Panchsoft Technologies, and another accused, Suresh Chandra Nayak, owner of Silicon Tech. Reports suggest that the investigation will now lead to lie-detection tests.
Prusty, considered a major suspect in the alleged data tampering, was arrested near the Indo-Nepal border after remaining untraceable for more than a month. He was brought to Bhubaneswar for interrogation and was also confronted with another accused, Muna Mohanty, to verify how recruitment-related data was accessed and modified.
Meanwhile, the CBI is currently examining records of institutions associated with the online exam, communication data of the accused, and digital logs relevant to the recruitment process. The agency is expected to seek more technical documents from private software firms and servers linked to the recruitment process as part of the investigation.
Also read: President Murmu to address Odisha Assembly on Nov 27
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