A special CBI court has denied anticipatory bail to Sriniwas Kishor Mishra, UCO Bank’s Bhanra branch manager in Bihar’s Banka district
Following an FIR registered on a complaint filed by IBPS, the CBI Special Task Branch Mumbai had executed coordinated multi-state raids and arrested a CGST inspector from Kolkata and three others from Delhi and Haryana on Oct 8. A special CBI court has denied anticipatory bail to Sriniwas Kishor Mishra, UCO Bank’s Bhanra branch manager in Bihar ’s Banka district.
The court also noted CBI’s submission that IBPS data showed Mishra as an impersonator for 10 candidates, though prima facie material had so far been collected for three.
Special judge P B Ghuge held that Mishra was alleged to be “one such impersonator who is found to have impersonated in place of three candidates” and that the investigation involved recovery and matching of biometrics, as well as confrontation with other accused persons. The judge said the investigation related to “fraudulent means adopted in 22 different examinations conducted by IBPS during 2020-2024” for recruitment to posts in nationalised public sector banks and regional rural banks, where “46 impersonators appeared for 135 candidates in different stages of recruitment process”. “The nature of investigation involves recovery of biometrics, matching of biometrics, confrontation etc for which the custodial interrogation of the applicant appears to be necessary,” the court said. The scam “shakes the faith of students” and that custodial interrogation was necessary to unearth the wider conspiracy involving alleged fraudulent appointments in public sector banks and regional rural banks, said the judge. The court accepted the prosecution’s position on the gravity of the alleged offence and said the acts attributed to Mishra posed “a serious question as to the credibility of the process of recruitment” and must be “unearthed and dealt with stern hands.
During investigation, CBI received photographs, thumb impressions and iris scans from IBPS relating to persons who appeared at different stages of recruitment. The agency alleged that Mishra appeared in place of accused Srinivas Tyagi in the preliminary and main examinations, in place of Lovelyn Kumar Meena in the preliminary examination, and in place of Shashank Bhushan in the main examination.