STF expedites probe into police exam paper leak; 4 suspects nabbed
One of the arrested persons was also involved in an online question paper leak when the examination for recruitment of 226 JEs of the UPPCL was held on February 11, 2018: Officials
LUCKNOW The Special Task Force (STF) expedited its probe into the U.P. police constable recruitment exam paper leak after the arrest of four suspects from Siddharthnagar by the local police on Wednesday, said police here on Thursday.
They said one of the arrested persons, Sanjay Kumar Gaur, was also involved in an online question paper leak when the examination for recruitment of 226 junior engineers (electrical) of the UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL) was held on February 11, 2018. The question papers then were leaked through special software (Ammy Admin) installed in computers at two of the examination centres in Lucknow, said cops.
SP (Siddharthnagar) Prachi Singh informed media that those arrested were identified as Sanjay Kumar Gaur, Jitendra Bharti and Natraj, all residents of Deoria and one Bittu, of Howrah, West Bengal. She said the police recovered academic documents of 32 aspirants, three cheque books and two passbooks and some stamp papers.
STF officials suspected the same trick may have been used by the fraudsters in leaking question papers of the U.P. police constable recruitment examination held on February 17 and 18. But it is yet to be verified that special software was installed on the computers at the examination centres.
The STF could seek Sanjay Kumar Gaur’s custody remand for questioning. The force is also verifying the involvement of other people who were arrested along with Gaur in connection with UPPCL question paper leak in 2018. Those arrested then included managers of two Lucknow schools that served as centres for the online examination of UPPCL, four examinees, a software installer and five others.
The official said the role of some staff members of an IT company are also under scanner.
On February 24, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had asked the STF to probe the matter thoroughly and take strict action against those involved in the question paper leak after the cancellation of the UP Police Constable Recruitment Examination-2023 for 60,244 posts. He asked officials to conduct the re-examination within six months with full transparency.