Mumbai: The role of a branch manager of a public sector bank has emerged in CBI’s probe into the banking exam recruitment scam where dummy candidates appeared and at least 180 such aspirants cleared and are employed in various banks.A special CBI court has denied anticipatory bail to Sriniwas Kishor Mishra, UCO Bank’s Bhanra branch manager in Bihar’s Banka district.Special judge P B Ghuge held that Mishra was alleged to be “one such impersonator who is found to have impersonated in place of three candidates” and that the investigation involved recovery and matching of biometrics, as well as confrontation with other accused persons.Institute of Banking Personnel Selection or IBPS, a notified public examination authority which conducts common recruitment process examinations for public sector banks and regional rural banks, carried out data analysis, photo comparison and biometric matching of candidates who participated in recruitment processes between 2020 and 2024.Following an FIR registered on a complaint filed by IBPS, the CBI Special Task Branch Mumbai had executed coordinated multi-state raids and arrested a CGST inspector from Kolkata and three others from Delhi and Haryana on Oct 8.The judge said the investigation related to “fraudulent means adopted in 22 different examinations conducted by IBPS during 2020-2024” for recruitment to posts in nationalised public sector banks and regional rural banks, where “46 impersonators appeared for 135 candidates in different stages of recruitment process”.“The nature of investigation involves recovery of biometrics, matching of biometrics, confrontation etc for which the custodial interrogation of the applicant appears to be necessary,” the court said. The scam “shakes the faith of students” and that custodial interrogation was necessary to unearth the wider conspiracy involving alleged fraudulent appointments in public sector banks and regional rural banks, said the judge.The court accepted the prosecution’s position on the gravity of the alleged offence and said the acts attributed to Mishra posed “a serious question as to the credibility of the process of recruitment” and must be “unearthed and dealt with stern hands.”The court recorded that IBPS flagged 257 suspects among selected candidates for alleged impersonation, of whom 180 are currently working in various public sector banks and regional rural banks across India. They also identified 54 impersonators who allegedly appeared for two or more candidates, including eight impersonators who allegedly appeared for eight candidates and fraudulently secured jobs for them. This FIR concerns 135 candidates and unknown public servants and private persons alleged to have aided them.During investigation, CBI received photographs, thumb impressions and iris scans from IBPS relating to persons who appeared at different stages of recruitment. The agency alleged that Mishra appeared in place of accused Srinivas Tyagi in the preliminary and main examinations, in place of Lovelyn Kumar Meena in the preliminary examination, and in place of Shashank Bhushan in the main examination. The court also noted CBI’s submission that IBPS data showed Mishra as an impersonator for 10 candidates, though prima facie material had so far been collected for three.Mishra argued that he was innocent, falsely implicated, and not named in the FIR. The defence submitted that the evidence was electronic and documentary in nature, including admit cards and candidate-wise biometric mismatch details, already in the custody of IBPS, and that no recovery was required from him.
