A well-organised network of middlemen based in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana was behind the paper leak : CBI

New Delhi, February 1

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) conducted searches at 50 locations in seven states in connection with the question paper leak of police constable recruitment test in Himachal Pradesh.

The searches were conducted in Shimla, Kangra, Una, Mandi, Hamirpur, Kullu, Sirmour districts in Himachal Pradesh, Patna, Nalanda, Samastipur, Munder and Navada in Bihar, Haridwar and Dehradun in Uttarakhand, Pathankot in Punjab, Jaunpur, Varanasi, Gazipur and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh, Rewari in Haryana and Delhi.

The CBI investigation so far showed that a well-organised network of middlemen based in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana, etc. was running the racket and in a planned manner the paper was leaked.

The agency had registered two FIRs after they received a request from the state government to take over the investigation.

As per the case details, question paper of the written test held on March 27 2022 for the posts of constable in Himachal Pradesh Police was leaked ahead of the date by several middlemen spread across several states. The incident came to light on May 5 last year and the examination was cancelled.

The Himachal Pradesh Police had formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) on May 7. The SIT found that a part-time employee Sudhir Yadav of Akbarpur district of Bihar of a printing press had leaked the question paper in March before giving it to those accused in the case.

Three cases were registered by the state police in connection with the leak in Gaggal (Kangra), Arki (Solan), and at CID Police Station in Bharari (Shimla).

As many as 1,87,476 applications had been received for 1,334 posts of constables. As many as 75,803 candidates had qualified for the physical test, of which 26,346 cleared the written examination.

The agency is further investigating the case.