Kolkata, Nov 11: Three youths posing as Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) officers allegedly gained entry into the security-sensitive Nizam Palace in Kolkata and attempted to obtain confidential information from the Staff Selection Commission (SSC) office before being caught and arrested, police said on Wednesday.

Source: IANS

The accused have been identified as Biprashi Basu, Shubham Sarkar and Pallab Mandal, according to police. The incident raised security concerns at Nizam Palace, which houses several important central government offices, and the alleged fraud came to light following prompt action by the Bhowanipore police.

According to reports, two of the accused reached the SSC Eastern Region office at about 2.30 pm on Monday in a vehicle displaying Government of India signage, and allegedly presented fake CBI identity cards and forged candidate files while seeking recruitment records on the pretext of an official inquiry. Questioning led police to the third accused, and the vehicle was seized from the Nizam Palace complex.

Source: SSBCrack

“A number of fake CBI identity cards, a luxury car bearing the logo and board of the Government of India, and several forged appointment letters have been recovered from the arrested persons,” a Kolkata Police official said. Subsequent verification with the CBI confirmed that none of the three was associated with the agency.

Bhowanipore Police registered a case following a complaint by Surajit Basak, Assistant Director of the SSC's Eastern Region, invoking Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita provisions relating to forgery, cheating by impersonation and criminal conspiracy, reports said.

Police suspect the accused were part of a wider job-fraud racket that allegedly cheated aspiring candidates by promising them appointments in central government departments, and may have collected money from job seekers in return for forged appointment letters. Officers are interrogating the accused to establish their motive, identify other possible members of the alleged racket and ascertain the extent of its operations across West Bengal. The allegations are yet to be tested in court.