ED arrests OMR scanning firm director in Haryana PSC exam fraud case

Ashwani Kumar alias Ashwani Sharma was taken into custody on August 2 and a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court located in Panchkula sent him to five days of ED custody on Thursday, it said in a statement.

New Delhi: The director of a company which was entrusted to scan OMR sheets of candidates who appeared for the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) recruitment exam has been arrested under the anti-money laundering law, the Enforcement Directorate said on Friday.

Ashwani Kumar alias Ashwani Sharma was taken into custody on August 2 and a special Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) court located in Panchkula sent him to five days of ED custody on Thursday, it said in a statement.

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The case relates to alleged fraud in selection of candidates through the HPSC exam.

Ashwani Kumar is the director and controller of Paru Data Solutions Pvt. Ltd. which, according to the agency, was handling scanning work of OMR sheets of the candidates who appeared for the HPSC exam held in 2021.

He “withheld relevant information and was misleading the investigation,” the ED alleged.

“Ashwani Sharma was instrumental in getting candidates selected fraudulently in various examinations of HPSC including Haryana dental surgeon examination and Haryana civil services (HCS) pre-examination in lieu of bribes through middlemen.” “He used to fill in the circles left blank in the original copies as well as the carbon copies of the OMR sheets of the candidates from whom bribes were taken for getting them fraudulently qualified in the said exams,” the ED said.

The money laundering case stems from an FIR of the Haryana anti-corruption bureau (ACB) that was registered on November 17, 2021 followed by a chargesheet.

The agency has attached assets worth Rs 3.29 crore in this case earlier.