UP Police exam paper leak: Mastermind arrested from Greater Noida

The man has been identified as Rajeev Nayan Mishra, 32, who hails from Prayagraj and resides in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. He is a BTech graduate

The mastermind of the alleged Uttar Pradesh Police Constable Exam 2024 paper leak was arrested by the Noida special task force (STF) from Greater Noida on Tuesday night, said a senior officer in the know of the matter on Wednesday, adding that the suspect had also leaked the question paper of Uttar Pradesh Teacher Eligibility Test (UPTET) 2021 and the National Health Mission (NHM) contractual staff nurse recruitment exam in 2023.

Rajeev Nayan Mishra, along with his gang, leaked the paper from a resort in Gwalior and later in Gurugram, police said. (HT Photo)

The Uttar Pradesh Constable Recruitment and Promotion examination was held on February 17 and 18 and nearly 4.82 million aspirants appeared for the examinations for 60,244 posts. Later on February 24, chief minister Yogi Adityanath cancelled the examination over allegations of paper leak and ordered a retest within six months.

Raj Kumar Mishra, assistant superintendent of police, Noida STF, said, “The man has been identified as Rajeev Nayan Mishra, 32, who hails from Prayagraj and resides in Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh. He is a BTech graduate.”

“On Tuesday, we were alerted that Nayan Mishra had come to Delhi from Bhopal, and was scheduled to meet one of his accomplices near the LG roundabout in Greater Noida,” said ASP Mishra, adding that a team laid a trap and arrested Nayan MIshra.

“During interrogation, Nayan Mishra revealed that when he was pursing BTech, he came in contact with Subhash Prakash and Atul Vats, a resident of Bhopal, with whom he started taking money from aspirants to secure them admissions in colleges.”

He met Tarunesh Ajariya, aka Guruji, a resident of Bhopal, in 2019 and leaked the paper of NHM staff nursing recruitment exam to aspirants who paid him money for the paper.

The Gwalior crime branch registered a case against Ajariya and Nayan Mishra and arrested them in 2023.

After getting bail, Nayan Mishra came in contact with Ravi Atri, a resident of Gautam Budh Nagar and a MBBS graduate, who operates a racket that leaked test papers of All India Pre-Medical and Pre-Dental Test 2015 (AIPMT), said a Noida STF officer, adding that Nayan Mishra and Atri made a plan to leak the UP Police constable exam paper.

“When Atri came to know through one of his accomplices, Abhishek Shukla, a resident of Prayagraj, that the constable exam papers were being transported by an Ahmedabad based transport company, he got hold of the paper with the help Shukla and a Patna-based expert who could easily open sealed boxes without raising suspicions of tampering,” said the officer, adding that Atri offered ₹5 lakh to Shukla in advance and ₹15-20 lakh upon finishing the work.

Shukla and the expert, identified as Dr Shubham Mandal, opened a box and clicked photos of the UP Police constable exam test paper.

Vishal Vikram Singh, assistant superintendent of police, UP STF, said, “Nayan Mishra, along with his gang, leaked the paper from a resort in Gwalior and later in Gurugram.”

“A case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code has been registered against Nayan Mishra and Atri in Meerut, and efforts are underway to nab Atri,” said ASP Singh. Investigations are underway to identify how much money these racketeers earned by leaking recruitment exam papers.

Since February, the UP STF has registered 12 cases in different districts of Uttar Pradesh in connection with the exam paper leak and arrested more than 54 suspects.