Gandhinagar: Scrutiny of routine departmental examinations has prompted the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to register multiple corruption cases, uncovering what officials have described as one of the biggest departmental exam scams in Western Railway.

The CBI said an alleged nexus of senior officers, IT personnel, and clerical staff manipulated computer-based tests (CBTs) using remote access software to enter examination servers after tests had concluded, enabling select candidates to secure promotions.

So far, four FIRs have been registered at CBI Gandhinagar, with around 10 individuals booked after investigators found evidence of remote tampering, missing digital records, and questionable financial transactions. According to the FIRs, the manipulation was carried out through customised exam software allegedly developed by one of the accused railway officers.

The agency stated that irregularities were detected across four departmental examinations conducted between December 2023 and August 2024, pointing to a systematic pattern of manipulation.

In the August 10, 2024 Shunting Master examination, six of the 178 candidates secured abnormally high marks, leading investigators to identify Jitesh Agrawal (then Senior Divisional Personnel Officer), K. P. Manoj Narayanan (retired Chief OS–IT), Navroz Kurani (database assistant), and Mahendra Shirshat (senior clerk) as the alleged core conspirators.

Similar findings emerged in the November 22, 2024 Diesel Mechanic Grade III examination, in which candidate Arhan Mansuri reportedly scored unusually high. Vigilance inquiries found the same use of customised software, server irregularities, delayed session closures, and loan-linked money trails, again implicating the same four officials.

In the March 16, 2024 Staff Welfare Inspector examination, four candidates scored within a narrow band of 87 to 90.33 per cent, raising red flags after investigators found that question papers were uploaded two hours late, servers were later formatted, and third-party remote access software (AnyDesk) was allegedly used.

The earliest case relates to the December 3, 2023 Assistant Train Controller examination, where two candidates obtained identical scores of 98.67 per cent. The FIR alleges that question papers were uploaded a day in advance and that the exam software had not been officially procured at the time, reinforcing the CBI’s claim of a coordinated, multi-exam conspiracy.

Following the completion of vigilance inquiries and after obtaining clearance from the Railway Ministry, four formal complaints were lodged on December 30 by Rashmi Lokegaonkar, Deputy Chief Vigilance Officer (A&P), Western Railway, Churchgate, Mumbai, leading to the registration of FIRs. The cases name 10 railway officials and also refer to unidentified public servants and private individuals allegedly involved in manipulating the examinations.

At the centre of the alleged conspiracy is Jitesh Agrawal, then Senior Divisional Personnel Officer, who is accused of being the principal decision-maker overseeing several departmental CBTs. Forensic analysis found serious violations of prescribed procedures.

One FIR states that an examination session was not formally closed for more than two days after its completion, in breach of protocol. During this period, third-party remote access software, ‘AnyDesk’, was installed on the servers, allowing remote control even after the examination window had ended.

Investigators also found that the servers remained connected to the internet despite official guidelines mandating complete isolation during CBTs. More significantly, login records for the immediate post-exam period were missing, preventing identification of those who accessed the system after the tests.

The FIRs further allege that the exam software belonged to K. P. Manoj Narayanan, a retired Chief Office Superintendent (IT) previously posted in the Bhavnagar division, who had worked under Agrawal. Similar software is alleged to have been used in earlier CBTs conducted during Agrawal’s tenure in Bhavnagar.

Another accused, Navroz Kurani, a database assistant, allegedly created login IDs for candidates, paper setters, and exam-conducting officials, giving him access to sensitive credentials. Mahendra Kumar Shirshat, a senior clerk, is accused of collecting money from candidates in exchange for favourable outcomes.

Investigators reported “huge suspicious credits” in the bank accounts of both Agrawal and Shirshat. According to the FIRs, Shirshat allegedly acted as an intermediary, collecting money from beneficiaries and channeling it to senior officials involved in the scheme. DeshGujarat