LUCKNOW, Oct. 15 -- Nine years after the state government ordered a special investigation team (SIT) probe in December 2017, the Economic Offences Wing (EOW) on Wednesday arrested retired IAS officer Yogesh Kumar, 72, in connection with a 12-year-old livestock extension officer recruitment case, bringing the focus back on alleged irregularities during the Samajwadi Party (SP) government's tenure. Kumar, a 1980-batch retired IAS officer, was the principal secretary of the animal husbandry department when the alleged recruitment took place. The development comes months before the 2027 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections. Chief minister Yogi Adityanath has repeatedly targeted previous governments over alleged recruitment irregularities, while projecting his administration's emphasis on transparent and merit-based selection. Confirming Kumar's arrest on Wednesday, EOW director general Jai Narain Singh said, "Yogesh Kumar was arrested from Gomti Nagar in Lucknow after evidence was found against him. Further legal proceedings are underway." The agency also reportedly found evidence against the then animal husbandry minister, Raj Kishore Singh, but the state government's sanction for his prosecution remains pending. After the irregularities came to light and an FIR was registered, the state government did not resort to mass layoffs, though suspensions and transfers were ordered. According to the EOW, decisions taken by Kumar and other officials allegedly undermined the authority of divisional selection committees and enabled centralised evaluation of optical mark recognition (OMR) sheets. Investigators have alleged that manipulation of the answer sheets disadvantaged eligible candidates and benefited ineligible ones. The examination was held on February 2, 2014, for 1,198 livestock extension officer posts across 17 divisions, excluding Saharanpur. A total of 1,005 candidates were selected, trained and appointed, according to details of the recruitment case. The selection process subsequently came under scrutiny over alleged violations of recruitment rules and manipulation of examination marks. Under the applicable service rules, the additional director, Grade II, was the appointing authority. The EOW alleged that the prescribed procedure was bypassed when additional directors sought centralised evaluation of OMR sheets, citing a lack of funds and other difficulties at the divisional level. On February 19, 2014, they wrote to the department's director requesting that an institution be appointed to evaluate answer sheets from all 17 divisions. Investigators alleged that the then director, Dr Rudra Pratap Singh, and other senior officials subsequently arranged for the Feroze Gandhi Institute in Rae Bareli to conduct the evaluation. The agency claimed the institute had no prior experience of undertaking such work and that the contract was executed retrospectively, in violation of recruitment rules. An FIR was registered at the SIT police station in 2019 under provisions of the Indian Penal Code relating to criminal breach of trust, cheating, forgery, conspiracy and destruction of evidence, along with provisions of the Prevention of Corruption Act. Of the 28 accused-six originally named and 22 subsequently identified during the investigation-chargesheets have been filed against 25, the EOW said. The allegations against the accused remain subject to judicial proceedings....