E-Paper
{RO/ARO PAPER LEAK} STF arrests six more, including printing press employee
STF officials said that prima facie evidence revealed that the question papers for the RO/ARO examination were leaked from the examination centre at Bishop Johnson Girls Wing.
PRAYAGRAJ: Uttar Pradesh STF on Sunday arrested six more accused, including a printing press employee, in connection with the UPPSC Review Officer/Assistant Review Officer (Preliminary) Examination-2023 paper leak. The mastermind, Rajiv Nayan Mishra, along with other members of the gang, are already behind bars. The accused had obtained the examination paper from the printing press, STF officials said.
It is worth mentioning that an FIR was registered in this connection at Civil Lines police station on the complaint of UPPSC officials on March 4 this year, and the examination was subsequently canceled. The investigation was handed over to UP STF.
STF officials said six members of the gang were arrested near Parade Ground on Sunday. They were identified as Sunil Raghuvanshi of Bhopal, Subhash Prakash of Madhubani, Vishal Dubey, Sandeep Pandey of Prayagraj, Amarjeet Sharma of Gaya, and Vivek Upadhyay of Balia district. A laptop, six mobile phones, some educational documents, and blank cheques were recovered from them, they said.
STF officials said that prima facie evidence revealed that the question papers for the RO/ARO examination were leaked from the examination centre at Bishop Johnson Girls Wing. School staff member Arpit Vinit Yashwant provided the question papers to the gang. He scanned the question papers before the start of the examination at around 6:30 am and sent to Rajiv Nayan and Kamlesh Kumar Pal via WhatsApp.
Following investigations, the STF team arrested other members of the gang, including Rajiv Nayan Mishra of Meja area in Prayagraj, Saurabh Shukla of Pratapgarh, Arun Kumar Singh of Pratapgarh, Sharad Patel of Chunar, Amit Singh of Gonda, Arpit Vinit Yashwant of Cantt in Prayagraj, Abhishek Shukla of Lucknow, Kamlesh Kumar Pal of Jhunsi in Prayagraj, Ravi Atri of Gautam Buddh Nagar, and Vikram Pahal of Haryana.
However, STF officials later discovered that in addition to leaking the question papers from the examination centre at Bishop Johnson Girls Wing, the question papers were also leaked from the printing press in Bhopal where they were printed.
Rajiv Nayan Mishra, Subhash Prakash, Vishal Dubey, and printing press employee Sunil Raghuvanshi had studied in private colleges in Bhopal from 2014 to 2017. They planned to earn hefty sums by leaking question papers of different examinations printed at the press.
Sunil Raghuvanshi alerted his accomplices when the RO/ARO question papers were sent for printing in Bhopal. One question paper contained 140 questions, while the other had 40. However, Sunil demanded ₹10 lakh for leaking the papers. He also insisted that aspirants read the question papers in front of him, as he did not want the papers to go viral.
Sunil stole a copy of the question paper under the pretext of repairing the printing machine. As per the plan, the gang members assembled at a hotel on February 8, where aspirants were asked to learn the questions. They were given the question papers in exchange for ₹12 lakh each. Subhash Prakash, who had himself appeared for the RO/ARO examination, helped the aspirants solve the question papers. Subhash Prakash even clicked photographs of the question papers and sent them to other gang members. Rajiv Nayan Mishra, in a bid to earn more money, sent the question papers to Sharad Patel, Amit Singh, Arun Kumar, Ravi Atri, and others, following which the question papers went viral on social media platforms.
Further investigations have revealed that Rajiv Nayan Mishra’s close aide, Shivani, who used to keep details of cash transactions, is still at large. STF officials further said the role of the principal and manager of Bishop Johnson Girls Wing was also under scrutiny.
