Paper leak ‘whistleblower’ Jadeja remanded to police custody

Apart from Jadeja, his two brothers-in-law Shivubha and Kanbha, and three others —  Ghanshyam Ladhwa, Bipin Trivedi and Raju — have also been booked under sections 386 (extortion by putting a person in fear of death or grievous hurt), 388 (extortion by threat of accusation of an offence), and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.

Jadeja was arrested following a complaint by S B Bharwad, police inspector of Bhavnagar SOG. According to the FIR lodged at Nilambaug police station, Bharwad, while questioning Prakash alias P K Dave — one of the accused in the dummy candidate case — learnt that Jadeja had information about people involved in the dummy candidate scam.

The FIR states that Dave learnt through his wife Ila that on March 25, Jadeja showed a video

to a friend named Ghanshyam Ladhwa. The video had details of Dave filling in as a dummy candidate for a student named Rishit. Jadeja allegedly threatened to expose Dave.

The FIR says that initially Jadeja allegedly demanded Rs 70 lakh from Dave. Later, Jadeja asked Dave to confirm three names — Rajan Dave, Rakesh Baraiya and Parth Pandya — and others who worked for them. Subsequently, the deal was struck at Rs 45 lakh.

On March 29, Dave allegedly arranged Rs 45 lakh and gave it to Ladhwa. On April 5, Jadeja allegedly assured Dave on a call with Ladhwa that his name would not be among the seven names disclosed by him in the press conference. Later, Dave was informed that the video on Rishit was shot “forcibly” by Jadeja and that all the names would be disclosed at a press conference. According to the FIR, Jadeja also demanded money from another accused Pradeep Baraiya with whom a deal worth Rs 55 lakh was struck. Baraiya allegedly paid the amount by April 4.

The Special Operations Group (SOG), Bhavnagar, had initially summoned Jadeja for questioning on April 19 but he had sought two days’ time citing a “medical emergency”.

On April 14, the Bhavnagar Local Crime Branch (LCB) arrested four people for their alleged involvement in a racket where dummy candidates were sent to appear for government recruitment examinations and board examinations in Bhavnagar district. The police said the accused had also sent dummy candidates for the junior clerk recruitment examination conducted by the state government last Sunday.

According to an FIR registered at Bharatnagar police station, Bhavnagar residents Dave, Sharad Panot and Baldev Rathod allegedly forged hall tickets of candidates for government recruitment examinations and Class 10 and 12 board examinations and sent dummy candidates to take the examinations. They allegedly helped several aspirants get recruited into government service from 2012.

The FIR states that the trio used to charge Rs 5 lakh to Rs 10 lakh to find a dummy candidate and facilitate the entry of that person into the examination hall. They used to pay Rs 25,000 to the dummy candidate for each exam, the police said.

Fourteen people have been arrested in the dummy candidate scam till date. Of these, one is a juvenile, as per the information by Bhavnagar LCB. “Both Dave and Pradeep Baraiya are on remand,” stated the LCB.