Lucknow: An investigation by the Uttar Pradesh Police has linked the alleged masterminds behind the February leak of the constable recruitment exam papers with the leaks of other government exam papers in Madhya Pradesh and Haryana.
After the February paper leaks turned into a boiling issue ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, the UP government had nullified the constable and review officer and assistant review officer (RO-ARO) recruitment exams. The state police has so far filed 178 cases and arrested 397 persons in the two cases.
On Thursday, three men were arrested for the constable exam paper leak and two others for the RO-ARO exam paper leak, leading police to alleged mastermind Rajeev Nayan Mishra. According to the UP Special Task Force (STF), which is probing the cases, Mishra, a B.Tech holder, was the source of the RO/ARO recruitment exam leak.
The STF said Mishra also asked Ravi Attri, an MBBS holder, to secure the constable recruitment exam paper under any circumstances.
Mishra also allegedly leaked the National Health Mission (NHM) contractual nursing staff recruitment exam paper in February 2023, an investigation by the Madhya Pradesh Police had found. Besides, he was also suspected to be one of the men behind the UP Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) paper leak in 2021, leading to his arrest and imprisonment under various IPC sections in 2022.
In March last year, the Madhya Pradesh police arrested Rajeev Nayan Mishra and Pushkar Pandey in connection with the leak of the NHM paper. The Gwalior court, however, granted them bail in April. At the time, the MP Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case had said Mishra hacked the system of a Mumbai-based private company to leak the paper, and Pandey was a history-sheeter wanted in an alleged murder in Prayagraj since 2015.
Moreover, Mishra and Attri allegedly leaked the All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) contractual nursing staff recruitment paper in 2015. Attri was booked under sections of the IT Act at PGIMS Rohtak police station, Haryana, in the AIPMT case.
Additional SP Brijesh Kumar Singh said Mishra and Attri are on bail in the cases lodged against them in MP and Haryana, respectively. The duo has not been arrested yet in connection with the latest leaks.
UP Additional Director General of Police (law and order) Amitabh Yash, meanwhile, told ThePrint that the police are determined to go to the bottom of the paper leak racket.
Also read: Rajasthan paper leaks ordeal isn’t over. New law, new govt, same broken system
Gujarat warehouse link to exam paper leak
In the constable exam paper leak, UP Police Thursday arrested Abhishek Shukla, Shivam Giri, and Rohit Kumar. The trio once worked together in Transport Corporation of India (TCI) Express company, a Gurgaon-based logistics company, with a warehouse in Ahmedabad’s Kheda. They allegedly obtained the paper from that warehouse.
“Abhishek Shukla, Shivam Giri, and Rohit Pandey worked together in the TCI Express company and were well-known to each other. All three together orchestrated the crime with others,” said a statement issued by UP STF Friday.
The statement also said Giri joined the Delhi office of TCI Express in 2020 but was then transferred to the Kheda warehouse, where he met Shukla and Pandey.
Shukla later quit the company, but Giri and Pandey continued working there.
A fourth person arrested in the case Friday, Shubham Mandal, is an MBBS doctor who previously served at a primary health centre in Bihar’s Katihar and allegedly broke open a box to get the papers from the warehouse.
Mishra wanted constable paper ‘come what may’
According to the STF, Abhishek Shukla, who resides in Prayagraj, was in touch with Ravi Attri, a resident of Greater Noida’s Neemka village. The STF said Attri informed Shukla that the constable exam paper would be with TCI Express, after which Shukla asked Giri to inform him whenever such material reached the company warehouse.
“Attri had offered Rs five lakh for the paper leak and a total of Rs 15-20 lakh after job completion. He also said if any person other than Giri helped in leaking the paper, he, too, would get Rs five lakh,” an STF officer said.
The STF statement added that Rajeev Nayan Mishra told Attri that he should get the constable recruitment paper come what may. Mishra allegedly transferred Rs 3 lakh to Giri’s account for the paper and called up Dr Shubham Mandal, a resident of Bihar and “an expert in breaking the boxes”.
The STF statement also said Shukla, Attri, and Mishra picked up Mandal from the Ahmedabad airport, and reached the company warehouse where Giri and Pandey were already present. Mishra then handed his phone to Mandal and asked him to click photos of the paper.
Mishra and Attri allegedly gave the paper to others, including Satish Dhankad, owner of Nature Valley Resort, Manesar, Gurgaon; and Dheeraj alias Goldie, owner of Bollywood restaurant, Sonipat.
In February, the constable exam paper was leaked to at least 1,000 candidates at the Nature Valley Resort. Purported pictures of the candidates gathering at the resort to hear the accused reading out the paper went viral on social media a day before the scheduling of the constable exam. A team of the UP STF reached the resort on 2 March.
The STF statement said the accused brought candidates from across UP and Haryana to the resort in buses. Each candidate allegedly paid Rs 7-8 lakh to take part.
“UP police exam was scheduled for 17 and 18 February. Just before that, 1,500 students have been dictated the question paper in a resort for Rs 7-8 lakh each,” alleged a post on X.
यह तस्वीर गुड़गांव के एक रिजॉर्ट की बताई जा रही है! यूपी पुलिस का पेपर 17 और 18 फ़रवरी को था.इससे ठीक पहले 16 फरवरी को रिजॉर्ट में करीब 1500 छात्रों को 7 से 8 लाख रुपए लेकर लीक पेपर को पढ़ाया गया!#PaperLeak #UPPolice pic.twitter.com/LEauT0rgvz
— National Educated Youth Union (@NEYU4INDIA) March 13, 2024
Vikram Pahal, a Delhi police constable from Haryana, allegedly gathered the candidates with help from one Mahendra Sharma, who the STF arrested from Jind Tuesday. Pahal, who is on the run, was in touch with Abhishek Shukla and Ravi Attri.
Mishra leaked RO-ARO exam paper too
Rajeev Nayan Mishra allegedly leaked the RO-ARO exam paper, too. This was revealed after the UP STF Thursday arrested two persons, Arun Kumar Singh and Saurabh Shukla, in the case.
Singh was recruited as a UP police constable in 2011. But in 2019, the STF arrested him for helping candidates cheat in a teacher recruitment exam at the National Inter College in Hazratganj, Lucknow. In a statement, the STF said Singh was dismissed from service after the arrest, but since then, he has been leaking question papers of government exams and helping candidates cheat.
The STF statement added that Singh asked several persons to leak papers and paid them money. Shukla, manager of Lucknow’s Ganga Devi Memorial School, allegedly gave him the teacher recruitment exam paper.
It also said that Singh met Shukla at an event and asked him to leak the RO/ARO exam paper. Shukla allegedly obtained the paper two to three hours before the exam from one Ajay Sharma. Sharma informed Shukla that Rajeev Nayan Mishra of Prayagraj sourced the paper. Shukla then forwarded the paper to Singh, who shared it with the candidates, coaching centres, and academy owners, according to the STF statement.
Arun Singh also allegedly met Vyapam scam accused Sharad Singh in jail.
The STF statement said Sharad told Arun about Mishra leaking exam papers and that they would work with Mishra after their release from jail.
(Edited by Madhurita Goswami)
Also read: ‘Pensions to elderly over govt jobs for youth?’ Why young voters of Telangana have a grouse with KCR