E-Paper
Gangs of 4 states to fore, paper leak nexus baffles UP cops
Involvement of several gangs baffled investigators of UP Special Task Force (STF) in reaching the exact source of paper leak; initial arrests hinted towards some gangs operating from west UP districts, including Meerut, say officials
LUCKNOW The involvement of multiple gangs of Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Haryana and West Bengal has surfaced in the investigation into UP police recruitment exam paper leak, after the arrest of nearly 300 people from various districts across the state.
Police officials said the involvement of several gangs had baffled investigators of UP Special Task Force (STF) in reaching the exact source of paper leak. Initial arrests hinted towards some gangs operating from west UP districts, including Meerut.
They said later arrests from Siddharth Nagar on February 28 pointed towards gangs operating from Bihar and West Bengal, but further arrests from Baghpat, Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar hinted towards gangs operating from Haryana.
The recent arrest of ex-air force personnel, Pramod Pathak, of Gautam Buddh Nagar and five arrests from Meerut raised suspicion on gangs of Haryana, officials added.
“The arrest of Sanjay Kumar Gaur from Siddharth Nagar brings to fore a nexus involved in the question paper leak as he was also arrested earlier in connection with an online question paper leak when the examination for recruitment of 226 junior engineers (electrical) of UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) was held on February 11, 2018,” said another police official.
He said the UPPCL question paper was reportedly leaked through special software (Ammy Admin) installed in computers at two of the examination centres in Lucknow. STF investigators had then suspected that the same trick may have been used by fraudsters in leaking question papers of the U.P. police constable recruitment examination. But it is yet to be verified that special software was installed on computers at examination centres, he added.
On February 24, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had asked the STF to probe the matter thoroughly and take strict action against those involved in the question paper leak after the cancellation of the UP Police Constable Recruitment Examination-2023 for 60,244 posts held on February 17 and 18. He asked officials to conduct the re-examination within six months with full transparency.
Around 48.17 lakh aspirants took the police constables’ recruitment exam. Around 20% posts were reserved for around 15 lakh women candidates.
