Eight arrested for paper leak in R'than

In a major breakthrough, Rajasthan Police has busted a gang allegedly involved in leaking question papers of various competitive exams conducted by the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC).

Eight members of the gang who were arrested include a lecturer in a government college, a probationary officer in a nationalised bank and three others who came in the merit list of preliminary examinations for Rajasthan Administrative  Services (RAS).

Officials of Special Operation Group (SOG) conducted a raid on a house, in which all the eight accused were arrested. They later admitted of their guilt.

Two women aspirants were also arrested from the spot, who had come there to make payments for question paper of a school lecturer exam to be held on July 12. Police recovered nine lakh rupees in cash, one pistol and 15 live cartridges from their possession.

Among the masterminds of the racket were Amrit Lal Meena, lecturer at the government college at Karauli, Sanjiv Meena, Probationary Officer at the Oriental Bank and Hari Das, working at the Rajasthan University.

SOG officials told that Haridas would pose himself as a college lecturer and would collect the money from students. Amrit Lal, Sanjiv and two of their accomplices, Hansraj Meena and Sunil Kumar, were working behind the curtains.

The committee analysing the RPSC results found several candidates belonging to the same families securing high ranks in the merit and several other discrepancies, following which the commission requested the Director General of Police to get the matter investigated.

In preliminary examinations for Rajasthan Administrative Services (RAS), 50 students managed to come into merit. Out of them, 33 were ST/SC and belonged to Karauli.

In another exam, five children of a family not only cleared the exam but also managed to find a place in the merit list.

“For many days, we have been keeping a close eye on all the four accused. Their every move was being monitored. When we had enough evidence, we finally conducted raids and arrested them,” said Alok Tripathy, Additional Director General, SOG.

Meanwhile, Rajasthan Public Service Commission on Thursday cancelled the RAS pre-examination held in October last year.

The decision was taken in a full commission meeting. The exam will now be re-conducted in two months and the dates will be finalised in a couple of days, RPSC Secretary Naresh Kumar Thakral said.