The paper leak gang had allegedly taken Rs 10 lakh from each candidate for illegally providing them the questionnaire for the second-grade teachers' recruitment test conducted by the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC), police said.
After the question paper allegedly leaked mere hours before the exam on Saturday, 44 persons, including the alleged mastermind of the scam and 37 students, were detained. The general knowledge examination for teacher recruitment in Rajasthan was subsequently canceled.
According to police, the paper leak gang had allegedly taken Rs 10 lakh from each applicant for illegally providing them the questionnaire for the second-grade teachers' recruitment test conducted by the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC).
Police said 37 students and seven "experts" were held in the Udaipur district. The alleged mastermind of the paper leak, Suresh Vishnoi, a resident of Jodhpur, was among those arrested. Acting on a tip-off that the paper has been leaked and a private bus carrying the candidates was coming to Udaipur, police teams stopped a vehicle at an intersection in Bekariya police station circle this morning, Udaipur Superintendent of Police Vikas Sharma said.
He said the candidates traveling in the bus were found to be in possession of the leaked examination paper. "The suspected bus was stopped. At least 37 candidates were found with the leaked paper and seven others including experts and invigilators were found with other equipment. All of them hail from Jalore district and they have been arrested," Sharma said.
He said preliminary investigation revealed that the mastermind had taken Rs 10 lakh to make the paper available to them. More arrests are expected in the matter, the SP said. Udaipur Police in the past few days has arrested three persons who tried to appear in the teacher recruitment examination as dummy candidates.
Leader of Opposition in Rajasthan Assembly Gulab Chand Kataria said the incident is a matter of shame for the government and questioned how "the network that leaks papers for money" is being able to operate in the state.
He said it was disturbing for the students who had prepared hard for the examination. "There is a huge nexus involved in the crime as eight papers have already got leaked and Saturday’s incident was the 9th," Kataria said.
BJP national general secretary and Rajasthan in-charge Arun Singh said, "There is anger among youths. The cancellation of the first shift paper of the Rajasthan Senior Teacher Recruitment Exam 2022 is another proof of CM Ashok Gehlot's failure. Fearless paper mafia dominates the entire examination system, future of youth is bleak."
Other BJP leaders, including Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and state president Satish Poonia, also targeted the Congress government for its “failure” in tackling the paper leak mafia.
Meanwhile, Rajasthan Director General of Police, Umesh Mishra said the arrests show that they are committed to conducting recruitment examinations in a clean and fair manner. In a statement, he said that like the Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET), strict legal action will be taken against the paper leak gang this time too.
Mishra said that a letter is being written to the Rajasthan Public Service Commission to debar candidates who try to cheat.
The exam was scheduled from 9 am to 11 am. On May 16, 2022, a paper from the Rajasthan Police Constable Recruitment Exam was canceled after it was leaked. The constable recruitment paper leak occurred days after Rajasthan Eligibility Examination for Teachers (REET) had to be canceled by the state government in February 2022. The exam was held in September 2021. The Special Operation Group (SOG) of the Rajasthan Police was given the task to investigate the matter in both cases.
'Those responsible for paper leak won't be spared'
Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot on Saturday said the leak of the teacher recruitment exam paper was unfortunate and promised strict action against the culprits. Gehlot said that Rajasthan is the only state in the country that has taken prompt and strict action in such matters.
The new date for the Saturday paper will be released soon, he said. Police on Saturday arrested 44 people just a few hours before the general knowledge paper for the second-grade teacher recruitment examination in Rajasthan, followed by an announcement to cancel the paper by Gehlot.
"The paper leak is very unfortunate. Papers have started leaking in many states, in the army, and in the judiciary (Rajasthan). It is a very worrying situation. Rajasthan is the first state in the country which has put such people in jail," Gehlot told reporters here.
He further said: "Strict action will be taken against those who indulge in this act. We have recently passed a law in the assembly under which such people will get strict punishment, if needed, we will make a more stringent law." The Chief Minister said it was sad to see some young people too getting involved in such acts. "Unfortunately, many such gangs have been formed which mislead the children. Action will also be taken against the children (examinees) who are found involved in this so that in future they do not get involved in this type of work."
Asked about BJP’s attack on the government over the paper leak, Gehlot said Rajasthan was the only state where action was taken against people responsible for such leaks. On the Bharat Jodo Yatra of the Congress, Gehlot said the impact of the yatra was huge because people have realised what dire straits they are in and how inflation is impacting them.
"Unemployment has spread very badly and no steps are being taken by the government. And there is tension in the country, an atmosphere of violence, which should end. Rahul Gandhi ji has raised the right issues and a new image of him has emerged from this yatra," he said.
'Mastermind' is arrested
An initial investigation has found that the two people who sold the question paper to the "mastermind" of the Rajasthan exam leak, a vice principal of a government school in Jalore, Suresh Bishnoi, were locals of Jaipur. They were Bhupi Saran and Suresh Dhaka. The vice principal obtained each candidate's phone and distributed the question paper before the start of the 2022 competitive examination for 2nd-grade teachers. The police have taken him into custody. Additionally, a printer was found there.
(With Inputs from PTI)