Noida: Cops bust gang involved in leaking exam papers, 10 held

Police officials said the gang also provided solvers who would appear in place of the actual candidates in various recruitment exams in exchange for money

The Noida police on Monday arrested 10 people, including three retired army officials, for their alleged involvement in leaking question papers of government competitive exams. Officials said that the gang also provided solvers who would appear in place of the actual candidates in various recruitment exams in exchange for money.

(Representational image)

Kumar Ranvijay Singh, additional deputy commissioner of police, Noida, said the Sector 58 police received information that the gang members would be gathering near a park in Noida’s Sector 61 early morning. “A team from the Sector 58 police station reached the spot and arrested 10 persons sitting in two cars,” he said.

Police recovered ₹9.15 lakh in cash, two cheques of ₹2 lakh each, 28 admit cards of different examinations, a sample question paper of the Haryana Police constable exam, and 14 mobile phones from the suspects’ possession .

Rajneesh Verma, assistant commissioner of police Noida (2), said that the suspects, Sunil Kumar and Satnam Singh, natives of Haryana, are retired subedar, while another suspect Lakhan Singh from Rajasthan is a retired army jawan.

Lakhan was in contact with other suspects -- Umesh Tatwar, Abhinav Kumar, Layak, Virendra Yadav, Mahipal Yadav, Vikas Sharma and Jitendra Yadav, police said.

“The suspects revealed that they had gathered to exchange information and cash. They used to leak the question papers and sold them to candidates. In some cases, the suspects used to impersonate in exams by forging documents of candidates,” Verma said.

Suspect Jitendra Yadav was about to appear in the constable exam on Monday on behalf of a candidate, police said, adding that the gang had a large network spread across various states, including Haryana, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, and Bihar. They have fraudulently helped nearly 150 candidates get government jobs in the past 2.5 years.

The preliminary investigation showed that the gang would charge ₹30 lakh per candidate, police said.

A case has been registered against the suspects under sections 420 (cheating), 467 (forgery), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy) at Sector 58 police station. “The suspects were produced in court that sent them to judicial custody,” Verma said.