On 02.08.2023, Ashwani Kumar alias Ashwani Sharma was taken into custody by the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) in connection with the Haryana Public Service Commission (HPSC) Recruitment Fraud. On August 3, 2023, he was brought before the prestigious Special PMLA Court in Panchkula. ED has been given five days of detention by the Honourable Court.
Based on a FIR filed by the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), Haryana on November 17, 2021, and a chargesheet later submitted in this case under different sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Prevention of Corruption Act, the ED began a money laundering investigation under the PMLA, 2002.
In exchange for bribes paid to intermediaries, Ashwani Sharma played a key role in helping individuals get selected illegally in several HPSC examinations, including the Haryana Civil Services (HCS)-preexamination and the Haryana Dental Surgeon Examination. In the original copies and copy copies of the OMR sheets of the applicants from whom bribes were demanded to falsely qualify them for the aforementioned tests, he used to fill in the circles left blank.
Ashwani Kumar was identified through an ED investigation as the director and controller of M/s Paru Data Solutions Pvt. Ltd., which was responsible for scanning the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets of applicants who registered for the aforementioned HPSC tests. He has also resorted to deceiving the inquiry and concealing important facts. During the PMLA inquiry, the immovable property information was discovered. Earlier in this case, the ED had attached moveable property worth Rs. 3.29 crore. Further research is now being conducted.
