BJP leader arrested for paper leak case
The special task force (STF) on Sunday arrested Uttarkashi zila panchayat member and local BJP leader Hakam Singh Rawat in the Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission (UKSSSC) paper leak case, said a police official.
Rawat, suspected to be one of the masterminds of the paper leak, was on the run and trying to enter Himachal Pradesh when he was detained on the border near Arakot in Uttarkashi on Saturday.
He was brought to Dehradun for interrogation. “On the basis of concrete evidence against him, he was arrested,” senior superintendent of police (STF) Ajay Singh said while addressing a press conference.
The zila panchayat member was on the STF radar since the initial days of the probe but people were not speaking against him due to his “influence”. “Hence, our priority was to first collect concrete evidence against him before arresting him. He had gone to Thailand and came back on August 7,” the STF officer said.
Rawat also played a key role in the paper leak of another graduate-level examination in 2021 and is connected to an interstate paper leak gang based in Uttar Pradesh, Singh said, adding that he took candidates in two vehicles to a relative’s house in Dhampur in Bijnor district of UP on December 4, a day before the exam, to provide them with the leaked question paper.
“He along with another accused, Tanuj Sharma, who is very close to him, also gave the leaked question paper to 20-22 candidates at Tanuj’s house in Dehradun’s Raipur.”
On Saturday, the STF arrested Tanuj Sharma who is currently working as a physical education teacher at a government intermediate college at Netwar in Uttarkashi district. During the interrogation, Sharma corroborated the role of Rawat in the paper leak, the STF officer said.
A police official aware of the probe said, “It came to the light that around 80 candidates from Uttarkashi had cracked the exam. Even Rawat’s sister-in-law and other relatives made it to the merit list. However, it is being ascertained how many of them passed the exam through unfair means.”
During the police interrogation, Rawat revealed two names from whom he sourced the question paper.
The accused said ₹12-15 lakh was fixed per candidate for the leaked paper, which was taken in two instalments -- before and after the exam. The police, however, recovered no money from him.