Board examination rigging rackets unearthed, 20 arrested

LUCKNOW : The UP special task force (STF) arrested 20 people, including a school headmaster and a teacher, from two examination centres in Ghazipur and Ballia districts, respectively, for rigging the ongoing Uttar Pradesh board exams of high school and intermediate, on Saturday.

The STF officials said the school authorities at both the centres were allegedly involved in allowing mass copying and changing of answer sheets with those written by hired solvers outside the examination centres.

“Three other people, including the two school managers who were still at large, were also involved in the rigging racket,” said Abhishek Singh, senior superintendent of police (SSP), STF.

He said that the two exam centres where rigging took place were Adarsh Kisan Inter College at Khanpur in Ghazipur and Mohd Muneer Muslim Inter College at Gadwar in Ballia.

Singh said that the school authorities at both the centres used to charge Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 from each candidate to allow cheating with help of guide books or by hired solvers.

The SSP said as many as 15 people, including the school headmaster, Pankaj Yadav and teacher, Dilip Yadav, were arrested in Ghazipur district. Others arrested were identified as Chandan Paswan, Raj Kumar, Sachin Yadav, Pradyuman Chauhan, Saurabh Kumar, Dhananjay Kumar, Mohan Prajapati, Ram Kripal Kashyap, Akash Chauhan, Akash Yadav, Rahul Yadav, Abhay Yadav and Shubham Gupta.

According to the SSP, the entire rigging racket was being operated by Pankaj Yadav and his father Suresh Yadav, who is the principal of Adarsh Kisan Inter College, and two teachers Dilip Yadav and Shailendra Yadav.

“Suresh Yadav and Shailendra Yadav, whose houses were used by the solvers and examinees to write answer sheets, managed to escape when the STF men raided their house during the maths paper exam in the morning shift, on Saturday,” the officer said.

The STF recovered 34 written answer sheets, 71 blank answer sheets, three high school guide books and one intermediate chemistry answer sheet from their possession. Chemistry subject paper was scheduled in the second shift on Saturday.

In Ballia, the STF arrested five persons identified as Anjani Kumar, the head master of Mohd Muneer Muslim Inter College, Digvijay Yadav, Raj Vijay Yadav, Abu Bakar and Mohd Atif.

“The key accused, Shahid Alam, who is the school manager, however, managed to escape. Police have recovered two written answer sheets of maths paper from them,” the SSP said.

He said that the accused had been booked under charges of fraud, forgery of valuable security as well under the anticopying act and sent to jail after being produced in the competent court.