The CBI took over the probe last August on the directions of the Calcutta High Court to look into the allegations that several candidates were recruited illegally in the armed forces and the CAPFs via forged domicile certificates purportedly showing them to be from border areas, thus getting through at lower cut-off marks.

Some Pakistani nationals had also benefitted, the FIR had alleged. The searches on Saturday were conducted on the premises of racketeers who were allegedly involved in creating forged domicile certificates, officials said.

Going through the findings of the CBI preliminary enquiry, Justice Jay Sengupta had noted that no irregularity was detected in armed forces recruitment but four instances were found in Central Para Military forces. “However, as regards employment in the Central Para Military Forces, some irregularities have already been detected. During preliminary enquiry, at least four such instances have come to light,” Justice Jay Sengupta had noted.

West Bengal, being a border state, allows lower cut-off marks in the examinations for employment in the Central Para Military Forces, he had said. “This seems to have prompted people from other states, especially from the northern part of the country, to forge documents to show that they were domiciled in the State of West Bengal,” Justice Sengupta noted, citing submissions of the deputy solicitor general.

“Domicile certificates, matriculation certificates and caste certificates have been forged. It will be a matter of a more in-depth investigation whether foreign nationals have also taken recourse to the same modus operandi in applying for jobs in the Indian forces,” he had said.