Tuesday, 21 March 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Lekhpal-Patwari recruitment examination paper leak case arrested another accused- David on Sunday. He was also jailed for his alleged involvement in helping some candidates cheat in the online forest guard recruitment exam held in September 2021 via Bluetooth. The accused had also purportedly leaked the question paper of the Junior Engineer (JE) examination held from May 7 to 10 last year along with his accomplices. A case is also registered against him for allegedly scamming people in the name of providing jobs, said the senior superintendent of police of Haridwar, Ajai Singh. He informed that the SIT investigation revealed that the accused along with his accomplices was involved in taking a hefty amount of money from some aspirants of the Lekhpal-Patwari examination besides collecting necessary documents from them before taking them to a Biharigarh situated resort to make them memorise answers of the leaked question paper.
Singh who is monitoring the SIT said that a warrant of arrest was issued by the court as the accused David was continuously absconding to avoid his arrest in the Lekhpal-Patwari paper leak case. He said that a reward of Rs 50,000 was also announced by the inspector general of the Garhwal range, Karan Singh Nagnyal. He said that after conducting raids on several locations, David was finally nabbed on Saturday from the Bhagwanpur area. Singh said that seven charges under several relevant sections besides the Prevention of Corruption Act have been imposed on the accused in the Lekhpal-Patwari paper leak case. He said that it was revealed during the preliminary inquiry that he was also allegedly involved in leaking the examination paper of the JE examination by taking lakhs of rupees along with his accomplices.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Uttarakhand police constituted SIT of Haridwar to investigate irregularities in the Lekhpal-Patwari examination held on January 8 under Uttarakhand Public Service Commission (UKPSC). The investigation was initially conducted by the Special Task Force but the state government ordered the formation of the SIT to probe the matter after receiving backlash for yet another recruitment scam in the State. The SSP said that the SIT is collecting concrete evidence and will soon arrest all the accused involved in the paper leak case. Evidence against those candidates who bought the examination paper are also being gathered by the team, added Singh.
