HP cops approach other states to nab kingpins

SHIMLA: : Under fire from different quarters for the high-intensity paper leak scam that rocked the politics in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh, the police have sought assistance from other states in arresting the kingpins involved in paper leaks in their respective states.

Director-general of police Sanjay Kundu has sought assistance from his counterparts in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana in arresting the kingpins involved in paper leaks in their states.

“What is emerging is that paper leak all over the country has become an organised crime and the kingpins use laptops, computers, mobiles, artificial intelligence and other technologies in this crime,” said Kundu who is supervising the probe being conducted by the SIT. “The Himachal Pradesh police constable recruitment paper leak was a well-organised crime that was part of a network spread across many states,” he said.

Gang used high-tech devices to evade police

Sleuths of SIT found that the gang used artificial intelligence and other technologies to leak the paper for competitive exams.

As many as 75,803 candidates had appeared for the exam at 81 centres set up across 11 districts. The police have so far arrested 73 people, including touts, parents of candidates, examinees who bought papers, and the middlemen who helped the kingpin spread his network ahead of the examination conducted on March 27.

Modus operandi

Since most of the public examinations are held on Sundays, the modus-operandi of this “paper leak organised crime” was that they would get the schedule of public examinations and secure the questions paper through their organised crime networks.

The gang through a network of coaching classes and agents would identify potential candidates and leak question papers on consideration of money.