E-Paper
NBWs against two U.P. MLAs in 2006 railway paper leak case
A senior police official confirmed that the court of special magistrate Pushkar Upadhyaya has issued the NBWs against SBSP MLA Bedi Ram and NISHAD MLA Vipul Dubey.
A Lucknow court has issued non-bailable warrants (NBWs) against Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party (SBSP) and Nirbal Indian Shoshit Hamara Aam Dal (NISHAD) MLAs in connection with an 18-year-old question paper leak of the railway group D recruitment examination, said police officials on Thursday.
A senior police official confirmed that the court of special magistrate Pushkar Upadhyaya has issued the NBWs against SBSP MLA Bedi Ram and NISHAD MLA Vipul Dubey. He said Bedi Ram was a two-term MLA from the Jakhania assembly of Ghazipur, and Vipul Dubey was a first-time MLA from the Gyanpur assembly of Sant Ravidas Nagar district.
He said the court issued these NBWs under the Gangsters Act against 19 people, including the two MLAs, in a case registered with the Krishna Nagar police station of Lucknow in 2006. The court directed the Krishna Nagar inspector in charge to comply with the warrant before July 26.
The prosecution counsel, LP Dixit, informed mediapersons that the then UP Special Task Force (STF) ASP Rajesh Pandey had claimed to unearth the paper leak racket and arrested the duo along with others after recovering question papers of the railway examination from their possession on February 26, 2006.
Sharing further details, another police official said that the STF had alleged the kingpin of the racket was Bedi Ram, who was then a TTE in Indian Railways, and Vipul Dubey was his close aide. He said Bedi Ram was terminated from his services in 2014 by the railways after his involvement surfaced in several question paper leak cases between 2006 and 2014.
“Even in his election affidavit, the MLA has mentioned nine criminal cases against him, of which eight are related to different question paper leaks. Moreover, the Jaunpur police opened Bedi Ram’s history sheet (17-A) and listed him as ‘Nakal Mafia’ (cheating mafia) in 2022,” he said.
The official said Bedi Ram’s alleged involvement surfaced for the first time in the Railway Recruitment Board (RRB) paper leak in November 2008. Later, his name surfaced in another RRB paper leak in February 2009.
Both SBSP and NISHAD are allies of the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh.
