Lucknow:
The associate of a Delhi Police constable was arrested by a special task force of his Uttar Pradesh colleagues Wednesday evening, in connection with an exam paper leak case. The UP team is trying to arrest the Delhi cop, also an accused. His associate is Mahendra Sharma, a resident of Haryana’s Jind.
Last month around 1,000 aspirants were contacted by the Delhi policeman and assembled – some were moved in buses – at a resort in Haryana, where they were given the answer key and the question paper for the UP Police Constable exam held on February 17 and 18.
Phones and gadgets were seized, and they were made to commit answers to memory.
NDTV has seen visuals from the ‘cram session’ – held two days before the exam – which shows dozens of young men and women sitting in rows on a lawn and reading from papers.
Sources said each person paid Rs 7 lakh – to be paid after the exam – for leaked papers. The accused would retain original marksheets from previous exams as “insurance”.
The exam papers and answer keys were procured from two other people, identified simply as Abhishek Shukla, from UP’s Prayagraj, and Ravi Attri, who is a resident of UP’s Greater Noida and was involved in the 2015 AIPMT, or All India Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Test, paper leak case.
Police believe Attri and Shukla could be the final pieces in this jigsaw puzzle.
“The arrest and interrogation of Ravi and Abhishek could be the last link in this investigation and efforts are being made for that,” Additional Superintendent of Police, Brijesh Kumar Singh, said.
Today’s arrest comes a month after 15 others were taken into custody for allegedly planning to leak question papers for the same exam. In that instance the accused were taking payments upto Rs 8 lakh per aspirant. That edition of the exam was cancelled.
READ | UP Cancels Police Constable Recruitment Exam, Orders Re-Test
Over 48 lakh men and women sat for that exam, which was cancelled days later amid multiple paper leak reports. UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on X (formerly Twitter),
“There can be no compromise with the sanctity of examinations. Those who toy with the hard work of youngsters will not be spared under any circumstances.”
READ | “National Sin”: Yogi Adityanath Vows Strict In UP Exam Paper Leak
Also last month, the Lok Sabha passed an ‘anti-cheating’ bill to check fraudulent practices such as these – the leaking of exam papers for government recruitment exams.
READ | Lok Sabha Passes Key Bill To Prevent Paper Leaks, Cheating
Under this bill, students who take competitive exams in good faith (i.e., they do not knowingly seek to profit from cheating) will not be targeted. However, those who leak exam papers or tamper with answer sheets, by colluding with officials will face up to 10 years in jail and a fine of Rs 1 crore.
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