E-Paper
UP TET paper leak: STF trying to connect the dots
It’s possible that papers were leaked at the exam agency level or at the treasury, where they were kept before distribution, say police
LUCKNOW After several arrests across the state, the investigation into the UP Teachers’ Eligibility Test (UPTET-2021) question paper leak revolves around ascertaining at which point the examination process was compromised and the group involved in it, said UP police officials on Monday.
The Special Task Force (STF), investigating into the nexus behind the paper leak, had on Sunday arrested 29 people from five districts for comprising the examination process and recovered question papers from some of them. Eighteen people were arrested from Prayagraj, four from Lucknow, three each from Shamli and Ayodhya while one person was arrested from Kaushambi.
The STF ADG, Amitabh Yash, said multiple teams were working on the case and trying to find how the question papers were compromised.
Another police official said the question papers were leaked nearly 12 hours before they were taken to different examination centres in the state. There is maximum possibility that the papers were leaked at the examination agency level or at the treasury, where they were kept before distribution and the entire probe was revolving around the same, he said.
“We are trying to connect the dots in the entire chain involved in comprising the exam process. Many people have been detained and are being questioned in this connection,” he added.
Earlier, ADG (law and order) Prashant Kumar had said photocopies of question papers were recovered from those arrested in Lucknow, Shamli and Kaushambi. Those held in Shamli revealed that they had arranged 10 copies of question papers for ₹5 lakh through some people in Mathura around 6.30pm-7pm on Saturday and they were selling it to examinees at ₹50,000 per head. He said 60 examinees were in touch with the gang for the question papers.
The state government had cancelled the UPTET-2021 scheduled on Sunday after the paper leak came to fore and decided to reschedule the exam within a month. As many as 19,99,418 examinees were supposed to appear in the exam scheduled in two shifts at 2,736 centres across 75 districts of the state.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath issued a stern warning against those involved in the paper leak and said the National Security Act and the Gangsters Act would be invoked against the culprits and their properties will be seized and houses bulldozed.
