Barred UP firm got Rajasthan OMR contracts after rebranding | Lucknow News
Jaipur: The Rajasthan Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG) has found that a private firm barred in Uttar Pradesh over recruitment examination irregularities secured contracts to scan optical mark recognition (OMR) answer-sheets in Rajasthan after rebranding itself.The development came two days after the agency arrested five persons for allegedly manipulating scanned OMR sheets using photo-editing software to inflate marks. Those arrested included the board’s technical head, Sanjay Mathur; programmer Pravin Gangwal; two employees of the firm, Shadan Khan and Vinod Kumar Gaur; and a candidate, Poonam Mathur. Investigators said digital alterations to scanned OMR sheets allegedly led to the inflation of marks of as many as 38 candidates. Sources said the firm, earlier registered in Kanpur under a different name, came under scrutiny since 2017 for alleged irregularities in public recruitment examinations. Around 2018–19, it rebranded itself as Rabhav Pvt Ltd and showed its location as New Delhi, investigators said.“We are still examining documents, but it appears the firm changed its name and address during that period to secure contracts in Rajasthan,” a senior official said.Sources also said the firm’s owner was arrested in UP in separate cases. Despite this, the company secured contracts for scanning OMR sheets for three examinations conducted by the Rajasthan Subordinate and ministerial Services Selection Board — Supervisor (Women Empowerment), Laboratory Assistant, and Agriculture Supervisor. Though these were 2018 recruitment examinations, they were held in 2019. Investigators said they are examining why the firm was awarded the contracts despite details about its background being available, and whether due diligence was carried out by the officials concerned. Officials said the rules require the identity of firms engaged for such confidential work to be kept restricted, with access limited to the board’s chairperson.Sources further claimed that, despite repeated requests, the board has not yet handed over all original OMR sheets to the investigators.
