UkPSC section officer leaked the paper: STF
Friday, 13 January 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
At a time when the unemployed youths are still reeling under the impact of scams in Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UKSSSC), the State has now witnessed another paper leak of an important recruitment examination. This time the paper of the Patwari examination held on January 8 conducted by the Uttarakhand Public Service Commission (UkPSC) has leaked.
The Uttarakhand State Task Force (STF) has arrested five accused in the case including a section officer of UkPSC, Sanjeev Chaturvedi. The STF has also recovered copies of leaked question paper and Rs 22.50 lakh from Chaturvedi which he allegedly collected by leaking the exam papers to candidates. In a Press conference in Dehradun on Thursday, the senior superintendent of police of STF, Ayush Agrawal informed that STF received information about the possible leak of Lekhpal, Patwari exam paper conducted by UKPSC on Sunday. The STF team started investigation to confirm the allegation and after it was found correct, STF registered a case in Kankhal police station of Haridwar on Thursday under Section 409, 420, 467, 468, 471, 120B and 3/4 of the Uttar Pradesh / Uttarakhand Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Prevention Act 1998.
Agrawal said that all work regarding Lekhpal and Patwari exam papers was being done in the confidential section of UkPSC but the section officer Sanjeev Chaturvedi leaked the paper from there with the help of his wife Ritu and provided it to another accused Sanjiv Kumar, a Saharanpur resident. “He gave a huge cash to Ritu in lieu of paper leak. Kumar and another accused Rajpal, also a Saharanpur resident, distributed leaked question papers to 35 candidates through the accused Ramkumar, a Haridwar resident and others.
They subsequently gave the candidates classes to make them memorise the answers of the paper in resorts of Biharigarh in Uttar Pradesh and Laksar in Haridwar,” said SSP. He informed that as per the investigation so far, 35 candidates received the leaked question paper before the exam. STF is investigating this whole matter and the team is still looking for other members of this gang. He said that appropriate action would also be taken against the money generated through leaking the exam paper. Chaturvedi’s wife Ritu was also arrested on Thursday evening after the Press conference. The STF has recovered a total of Rs 41.5 lakh cash from all accused till Thursday evening. It is pertinent to mention here that the State government had given the responsibility of conducting recruitment examinations to UKPSC after consistent revelations of scams in UKSSSC. However UKPSC failed to conduct its second exam without falling prey to the scam.
