CBI begins probe into leaking of railway’s GDC examination

The CBI has started investigating the alleged leakage of papers for the railway's GDCE held in January 2021. A case has been registered against 15 accused, including railway employees and a consultancy firm. The investigation is focusing on allegations that candidates received the question paper and answer key before the exam on payment of money. The CBI will soon record statements of candidates who confessed to receiving the leaked paper. The exam was for the recruitment of junior clerk-cum-typist and trained clerks. The railway vigilance department handed over the probe to the CBI due to financial dealings and outsider involvement.

MUMBAI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has begun probing the alleged leaking of the papers for the railway’s General Departmental Competitive Examination (GDCE) held on January 3, 2021, at six cities across three states, including Mumbai, in which 8,603 candidates had appeared.

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The CBI began its probe on the receipt of a complaint, and a vigilance report on the alleged irregularities, from the Western Railway (WR), Mumbai, after which a case was registered against 15 accused, including the unknown officials of a Mumbai-based consultancy firm tasked with conducting the examination, railway employees, like trackmen, and private persons. The agency is probing allegations that several examination candidates had received a copy of the computer-based examination paper and the answer key a day before the examination on payment of “premium,” CBI sources said.

The question paper and the answer keys were allegedly provided via a WhatsApp messenger link to the candidates by the accused members of the syndicate that orchestrated the leak, the sources said.

According to the CBI sources, the agency will soon record statements of a few candidates, who allegedly confessed to the railway vigilance authority that they had received the examination’s question paper and the answer key a day before the examination.

The examination was held for recruitment to the posts of junior clerk-cum-typist and trained clerks falling under the Non-Technical Popular Categories (NTPC) (Non-Graduate). The 8,603 candidates for the departmental examination appeared at four centres in Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Rajkot, Vadodara, Surat and Indore.

“It is further alleged that the consultancy firm was appointed as the Exam Conducting Agency. The candidates appearing in GDCE were supplied with question papers along with answers prior to the commencement of the exam on payment of money. Moreover, after a few days of the examination, they were also supplied exam results through WhatsApp links even before the concerned authority officially declared the results,” said a CBI official.

“It is further alleged that during the enquiry conducted by the railway vigilance department, some candidates who appeared in the exam confessed about the receipt of paper one day before the examination,” the CBI official said.

According to the CBI, a few candidates were allegedly even shown physical copies of the question papers at a hotel in Surat. The railway vigilance authority handed over the further probe to the CBI in view of the involvement of financial dealings and outsider’s involvement, the CBI official said.

The CBI has on December 30, 2023, registered an FIR based on a report lodged by the railway vigilance department.