HRTC conductor exam: Question paper leaked by candidate, police launch probe
A candidate at an exam centre at APG University, Shimla, allegedly sneaked in a smartphone. He clicked the photo of a few pages of the question paper and circulated it on WhatsApp
The Shimla police on Sunday launched a probe after the Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) conductor recruitment paper was leaked on social media soon after the exam began.
A candidate at an exam centre at APG University, Shimla, allegedly sneaked in a smartphone. He clicked the photo of a few pages of the question paper and circulated it on WhatsApp. The same also surfaced on other social media sites within minutes.
The paper was leaked 20-30 minutes after the exam began at 10am.
The accused has been arrested and is being interrogated by the Shimla police.
The exam was being conducted by Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission (HPSSC), Hamirpur. More than 60,000 candidates, vying for 568 posts of conductors in the state road transport corporation, appeared in the exam at 304 centres across the state.
HPSSC chairman said he has ordered to lodge an FIR into the incident. He said the decision to cancel the exam or not will be taken later.
Sources revealed that the HPSSC was also probing similar cases of paper leak from some centres in Solan and Kangra.
The incident has raised questions over the security arrangements being made by the HPSSC at exam centres. State transport minister Bikram Singh said any action in this matter will be taken by the HPSSC.
Meanwhile, former transport minister and senior Congress leader GS Bali has slammed the BJP-led state government for irregularities in the recruitment exams.
“This is injustice with the youth of the state who study hard with a dream to crack recruitment exams and get jobs,” said Bali.
He said that during the Congress regime, BJP questioned the recruitments and even moved the court to stall the process. “We got a clean chit on each occasion. However, now when they (BJP) are in power, first there were irregularities in patwari recruitment exam and now the conductor exam has also come under the scanner,” he said adding that this was unnecessary harassment of jobless youth.
CM calls for strict action
Taking cognisance of the paper leak, chief minister Jai Ram Thakur said those responsible would not be spared and strong legal action would be taken against them. He added that the government would ensure complete transparency in the written examinations so that such incidents do not occur in the future.