India News | Former CGPSC Chairman Sonwani Sent to 7-day CBI Custody in Chhattisgarh 'nepotism' Scam

New Delhi, Nov 19 (PTI) A special Raipur court has sent former Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission chairman Taman Singh Sonwani to seven-day CBI custody along with a city-based steel company's director who allegedly paid Rs 45 lakh bribe to get his son and daughter-in-law recruited as deputy collectors, officials said on Tuesday.

Sonwani and Shravan Kumar Goyal were arrested on Monday in connection with the case -- what came to be known as the "nepotism scam" -- which had brought under suspicion the selection of 171 candidates in the examination conducted by the Chhattisgarh Public Service Commission (CGPSC) in 2022.

Also Read | Supreme Court Directs Centre To Come Out With Policy on Constructing Feeding Rooms, Childcare Rooms in Public Places; Says 'Formulate Plan so That States Can Implement the Same'.

The two were produced before a special court which sent them to the CBI custody for further questioning over the alleged scam wherein sons and daughters of politicians and babus were appointed on lucrative government posts allegedly through a manipulated CGPSC examination, they said.

Goyal, the director of Bajrang Power and Ispat Ltd, had allegedly paid bribes in two installments of Rs 20 lakh and Rs 25 lakh through Gramin Vikas Samiti where Sonwani's relatives were members, they said.

Also Read | Delhi Air Pollution Crisis: AAP Government Directs Hospitals To Form Teams of Specialists for Respiratory Cases As AQI Remains in 'Severe' Category.

It is alleged that the bribe was meant for the selection of Goyal's son Sashank and daughter-in-law Bhumika Katiar as deputy collectors.

The CBI had registered an FIR against Sonwani and others in July this year on a reference from the Chhattisgarh government dated February 16.

They were booked over the "nepotism" racket in which "ineligible" family members of politicians, PSC officials and public servants were recruited in lucrative government jobs during the Congress rule.

The BJP ousted the Congress from Chhattisgarh in assembly elections held in November, 2023.

It is alleged that manipulations took place in the 2022 CGPSC examination, the results of which were declared on May 11, 2023.

(This is an unedited and auto-generated story from Syndicated News feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body)