[ Nellie N Manpoong ]
ITANAGAR, Aug 4: The special investigation cell (SIC) here arrested Agriculture Statistics Officer Yabi Ringu on Monday for her alleged involvement in the Arunachal Pradesh Staff Selection Board (APSSB) examination malpractice case.
This is the 18th arrest in the LDC examination case. Three others have been arrested in connection with the UDC cash-for-job scam.
Yabi is the sister of former APSSB undersecretary Kapter Ringu, who was arrested in February this year in the same case.
“During investigation, it was found that Yabi was involved in collecting money from three other candidates,” SIC Superintendent of Police M Harsha Vardhan informed this daily.
While Yabi has applied for anticipatory bail on medical grounds, she has been coming in for questioning for the past two days, the SP said.
Vardhan also informed that the SIC has submitted all the digital video recorder footages, which were tampered with by those involved in the scam, and other scientific evidence to the central forensic science laboratories in Guwahati and Chandigarh for analysis.
The SIC will also be using approver evidence to secure conviction of the main accused person(s). An approver is an accomplice to a felony who confesses his or her guilt and gives evidence against his or her confederate(s).
“This may be the first time that the state will be using approver evidence in a cash-for-job investigation,” the SP said.
He, however, said that the lockdown has slowed down the progress of the case as courts are not functioning as usual.
“We are trying our best to ensure that a foolproof case is prepared for the court against the main accused persons, so that we can prosecute them successfully,” Vardhan said, and assured that a chargesheet will be filed very soon.
About 30,000 candidates appeared for the APSSB examination at 80 centres, spread across different districts of the state, on 2 February.
The results were declared on 14 February, and a blank answer sheet with the roll number 2025546 was seen doing the rounds on social media on 15 February, creating a furore among candidates.
A total of 315 candidates, including the one whose OMR sheet was alleged to be suspicious, had been shortlisted for the skill test.
