Amid a row over the UGC-NET exam being scrapped and the NEET-UG paper being leaked,Uttar Pradesh Police filed a 900-page chargesheet against 18 accused, including alleged mastermind Ravi Attri, in the leak of questons papers for a UP Police Constable qualifying exam.
An estimated 46 lakh people were affected after the exam was cancelled; it was scrapped days after candidates took the test amid reports the question paper had been leaked.
NDTV accessed visuals from a 'cram session' - held two days before the exam - that showed dozens of young men and women sitting in rows on a lawn and studying the leaked paper.
Sources said each candidate promised to pay Rs 7 lakh after the exam, for which the question paper and answer keys were allegedly procured by Ravi Attri, a resident of UP's Greater Noida involved in a 2015 pre-dental exam paper leak case, and Abhishek Shukla, from UP's Prayagraj.
READ | Rs 7 Lakh 'Fee', Haryana Resort: UP Police's Paper Leak Case Breakthrough
There was an earlier (and unrelated) instance of leaked papers for the same exam, in which 15 people were arrested. In that case each aspirant had been told to pay Rs 8 lakh.
READ | "National Sin": Yogi Adityanath Vows Strict In UP Exam Paper Leak
That edition of the exam was also cancelled, after which Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had declared, "There can be no compromise with sanctity of examinations. Those who toy with the hard work of youngsters will not be spared under any circumstances."
UP Police Constable Exam Paper Leak Chargesheet
Among the details in this chargesheet is the location of the leak - a storehouse in Gujarat's Ahmedabad. This was after a city-based firm had printed the question papers and before a transport and logistics company, Transport Corporation of India, could move them to UP.
The 18 arrested included Shivam Giri and Rohit Pandey, both then TCI staffers, and Abhishek Shukla, who quit his job in July last year. Mahendra Jind, the associate of a Delhi Police Constable who contacted aspirants and offered them the leaked papers, was also arrested.
READ | Delhi Cop Arrested In UP Police Exam Paper Leak
All accused will also face charges under the Gangster Act, NDTV has been told.
UP Police Constable Exam Paper Leak Timeline
The 900-page chargesheet breaks down the sequence of events, spread over two years, in which the accused allegedly conspired and built up their illegal operation.
March 2022: Shukla contacts Attri through a middleman and is lured by promises of untold wealth if he can obtain a copy of the question paper. Attri tells Shukla he will have so much money he won't have to work in his lifetime, and also offered him a government job.
They meet a year later, in July, and begin planning their operation.
November 2023: Attri and Shukla settle on a sum of Rs 5 lakh per aspirant, and promise Giri (one of the TCI staffers with access to the question paper) between Rs 15 lakh and 20 lakh.
February 2024: The accused put their plan into action after the first set of sealed boxes, containing the printed question papers, arrive from the Ahmedabad-based printing firm.
READ | How Question Paper Of UP Police Constable Recruitment Exam Was Leaked
Shukla and Attri, and two other accused - Rajiv Misra from Prayagraj and Shubham Mandal of Noida - meet late night at the warehouse to break open the sealed box.
Mandal was the safe-cracking expert.
The accused snuck into the warehouse, identified a spot where CCTV cameras would not spot them, and grabbed some of the sealed boxes. These were opened by Mandal and Attri and Shukla took photographs of the question papers, which were then kept back inside.
Mandal was careful to break the back of the box since the front was visibly sealed.
Days later they received information that another set of papers had arrived, but were unable to execute the same plan because there were witnesses in the warehouse.
24 hours later they tried again, and this time they were successful.
March 2024: Giri travelled to Ghaziabad in UP to meet Attri. But this was when some of the accused, including Shukla, were arrested and the case blown open.
'Anti-Cheating Bill?
Even as multiple paper leak scandals rock the country, it is worth remembering the centre, in February, passed an 'anti-cheating' bill to check fraudulent practices such as these - the leaking of exam papers for government recruitment exams.
READ | Lok Sabha Passes Key Bill To Prevent Paper Leaks, Cheating
Under this bill, students who take competitive exams in good faith (i.e., they do not knowingly seek to profit from cheating) will not be targeted. However, those who leak exam papers or tamper with answer sheets, by colluding with officials will face up to 10 years in jail and a fine of Rs 1 crore.
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