The arrested driver got into the police force by using a dummy candidate for the examination conducted by the Central Reserve Office.

While the Kolkata Police’s detective department has been trying to solve the case, interrogation of one of the masterminds of the racket, Gopal Das, has helped the investigators to arrive at a rough estimate of the “illegal” entrants undergoing training at the Police Training School (PTS).

According to the police, the modus operandi of Das and his accomplice Bappa had three main components.

First, to arrange for the services of physically-fit dummy candidates who would take the rigorous physical tests.

Second, to superimpose the photos of dummy candidates on the identity card issued to the original aspirant by using commonly available software.

Third, the duo had recruited the services of ASI Nandakumar Pal, who was in-charge of checking that the candidate was the same person who had taken the recruitment test held in January. Pal has also been arrested from the Kolkata Police headquarters at Lalbazar.

Besides, Das had also asked his relative to source aspirants interested in joining the police force but needed the services of their dummy candidates. With the rate per candidate varying from Rs 2.5 to Rs 4 lakh, there was enough for everyone, said police sources.

The police investigations have pointed out that there were two separate operations being run by Das and Bappa.

Sources said that Bappa was more professional as he used to return the advance to the candidates who couldn’t make it through his racket. The police are now on the lookout for both Bappa and Santosh Jadhav, a constable with the CID, who is suspected to have played an important role in the scam.