The examination to recruit police constables, held on February 17 and 18, was cancelled as the question paper had been leaked. More than 48 lakh candidates had appeared for the test across Uttar Pradesh on the two dates.

Uttar Pradesh Paper Leak Case: Uttar Pradesh Police chief Friday said the question paper for the police recruitment examination in the state was leaked during transport and later stored by the accused at a warehouse in Gujarat.

“The three masterminds behind the paper leak have been arrested. All three are former employees of a transport company which was tasked with transporting the papers,” UP Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar told reporters while addressing a press conference in state capital Lucknow.

Papers leaked during transport, stored in Gujarat

The top cop revealed that the trio had connived with some of the company’s current employees,
also accused in the case, to leak the paper of the Uttar Pradesh recruitment test in the first week of February.

“During investigation, it was found that the question paper was leaked when it was being transported to a strong room from a printing press”, DGP Kumar said, adding that it was stored at a warehouse in Ahmedabad in Gujarat.

The police chief said the three alleged masterminds are part of an inter-state gang involved in leaking question papers of government recruitment exams.

#WATCH | Lucknow: At the press conference regarding the UP Police exam paper leak matter, Uttar Pradesh DGP Prashant Kumar says, “The investigation of this matter was handed to UPSTF… We were able to find out who leaked the paper and from where. Three important arrests have… pic.twitter.com/CT8uv2PxZN

— ANI UP/Uttarakhand (@ANINewsUP) March 15, 2024

3 ‘masterminds’ arrested

The DGP said that following intensive investigation by several police teams and the Special Task Force, “we determined that the exam paper was leaked by these three persons”.

Abhishek Kumar Shukla of Prayagraj, Shivam Giri of Mirzapur and Rohit Kumar Pandey of Bhadohi were arrested by a team of the STF in Ghaziabad on Thursday, Kumar said, adding that the names of the accused will be added to the FIR in the case.

The FIR been registered under Indian Penal Code sections 419 (punishment for cheating by personation), 420 (cheating by inducement), 467 (forgery of valuable documents), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 386 (extortion by putting any person in fear of death or of grievous hurt) at Gautam Buddh Nagar, said the officer.

With their arrest, the number of accused in the case has risen to 54, police said.

UP paper leak case

Notably, more than 48 lakh candidates took part in the police constable recruitment exam in Uttar Pradesh on February 17 and 18.

On February 24, the Uttar Pradesh Police Police Recruitment and Promotion Board cancelled the written examination for direct recruitment-2023 to the posts of reserved civilian police in Uttar Pradesh Police.

Following the incident, the Uttar Pradesh government had ordered an investigation and re-test, and had later removed Renuka Mishra as the chairperson of the UP Police Recruitment and Promotion Board.

She was on the “wait list” after her removal from the post and Director Vigilance Rajiv Krishna given the additional responsibility of the board.

The Uttar Pradesh Police has lodged 12 FIRs in connection with the exam paper leaks in various districts of UP.

(With inputs from agencies)