50 who used leaked papers identified: Cops
In the STF investigation, around 50 candidates have been identified who cleared the Uttarakhand Subordinate Selection Service Commission (UKSSSC) graduatelevel exam conducted in December last year after solving the leaked question paper, director general of police Ashok Kumar said.
“Whoever cleared the examination through unfair means will be an accused in the case. Our investigation into the case is underway and this number could be more,” he said.
Sixteen accused, including two additional private secretaries working at the state secretariat, have been arrested in the case so far. On Friday, additional private secretary in the justice department, Surya Pratap, a resident of Jaspur in Udham Singh Nagar district, was arrested in the paper leak case, said the police. On Wednesday, additional private secretary in the public works and forest department, Gaurav Chauhan, was arrested in the case.
According to probe officials, over 5 per cent of the candidates who made it to the final merit list have used unfair means. As many as 916 candidates had cleared the examination and 160,000 had appeared in it. However, the government is yet to take a call on whether to cancel the exam or not.
“The police will invoke the Gangster Act against the masterminds in the case,” the DGP said on Thursday, adding that it would be decided whether the arrested government officials can also be charged under relevant sections of the Prevention of Corruption Act.
When asked about the role of a zila panchayat member from Uttarkashi district, he said many, including public representatives and government officials, are under their radar and whose name will crop up during the course of the investigation, police will arrest them regardless of their influence.
On the role of former UKSSSC exam controller Narayan Singh Dangi who retired earlier this year, the DGP said they have found “loopholes” in the conduct of the exam but it is being investigated if it was done intentionally.
The state police chief also urged candidates to come forward and assist in their investigation if they have any information related to the paper.
On Wednesday, senior superintendent of police (STF) Ajay Singh asked the candidates who cleared the exams through unfair means to approach their office to record their statements or face arrest in the future. He said that many candidates have already admitted their mistakes.
On July 22, a fraud case under section 420 of the Indian Penal Code was registered at Raipur police station in Dehradun after chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami ordered the DGP to file an FIR into the paper leak and take necessary action.
It has come to light during the investigation that Abhishek Verma, a worker at the Lucknow- based printing press, where copies of question paper were printed, had stolen all three sets of the question paper from the printing press and handed them over to Jayjeet Das (programmer at the press). Das then gave the paper to Manoj Joshi (a former Class IV employee at UKSSSC) and Deepak Chauhan ( who was working on contract as junior assistants at HNB Medical University, Selakui, in Dehradun).
The question paper was further distributed to candidates through various people and solved at a resort in Ramnagar and a banquet hall in Kashipur and other places on the night before the exam, the DGP told a press conference on Thursday.
An amount of ₹83 lakh has been recovered from different accused in the case so far. The police said investments in house construction and purchase of cars have also been detected. Bank accounts with suspicious transactions have been frozen.
The candidates were made available the question paper in exchange of ₹ 10- 15 lakh, the police said.
Recently, S Raju had stepped down from the UKSSSC chairman’s post on “moral grounds”. In an interview with a Hindi news channel, the retired IAS officer had also admitted to the “mafia” and “political” pressure in the government recruitments.