Kota, Feb 2 (PTI) In a major expansion of ‘Operation Clean Ride’, the Jhalawar Police has unearthed another large-scale fraud within the Rajasthan Roadways by arresting seven more people, officials said on Monday.
This fresh round of arrests has exposed a systematic scam in the Free Examination Travel Scheme, a development that came to light during the ongoing investigation into an earlier racket targeting bus conductors.
According to the police, the seven accused were arrested on Sunday from various districts, including Kota, Ajmer, Banswara, Jaipur and Jhalawar. They have been identified as Dinesh Kumar (44), Radhyashyam (43), Narendra Tak (56), Shahnawaj (33), Umesh Purohit (52), Girish Joshi (51) and Ankit Gurjar (27).
Jhalawar SP Amit Kumar said that while previous arrests in the operation pertained to the extortion of staff, this new phase has revealed how the government scheme for competitive exam candidates was being manipulated.
Under the Free Examination Travel Scheme, candidates are entitled to free travel in ordinary express buses from two days before to two days after an examination upon showing an admit card.
Police found that several contractual drivers and conductors were falsely recording 50 to 75 per cent of their revenue targets as free travel tickets while pocketing the full fare collected from passengers. Only 25 to 50 per cent of the actual revenue was deposited with the Rajasthan State Road Transport Corporation (RSRTC), the officer said.
According to the police, permanent conductors and civil defence staff allegedly collected admit cards and supplied them to a syndicate. These cards were then distributed to contractual staff to provide cover for the missing revenue. A large number of admit cards were recovered from Radheyshyam, one of the accused, they said.
The matter came to light during questioning of eight people, including Narendra Singh Rajawat, an independent ward councillor, who were arrested last Friday for allegedly running an extortion ring. The group had been intimidating conductors.
Police had said the syndicate had been operating in a structured and organised manner for several years. They allegedly collected between Rs 50 and Rs 200 per conductor per trip and Rs 1,200 to Rs 2,500 per bus in exchange for bypassing checks and suppressing violations.
During those raids, police had seized Rs 11,57,980 in cash, three cars, two motorcycles, one laptop, 15 mobile phones and various RSRTC identity cards and documents.
The syndicate had been operating in a structured and organised manner for several years. Subsequent investigation led to the arrest of seven more accused on Sunday, the SP added.
Jhalawar DSP Harshraj Singh said the roles of permanent conductors and roadways staff, including the flying squad, are under scrutiny. He added that more names are expected to emerge as the investigations continue.
Police cited instances where the residential addresses and examination centres of candidates did not match the recovered admit cards, confirming misuse across multiple districts.
‘Operation Clean Ride’ involved district special teams, cyber teams and police personnel from multiple districts. Further investigation is underway to ascertain the total financial loss to the state and the involvement of other individuals. PTI COR AKY
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