Three more held in Gujarat constable exam paper leak

Gujarat police on Tuesday arrested three persons including one of the prime accused in connection with the leak of a constable recruitment examination.

As the examination scheduled last Sunday was cancelled, a fresh examination will be held on January 6.

The number of persons arrested in the case has now reached 11, a police official said.

Those arrested Thursday were identified as Yashpal Solanki, Indravadan Parmar and Rajendra Vaghela.

Solanki and Vaghela were to appear for the written examination on Sunday, the official said.

It was cancelled hours before after the authorities learnt that the paper had been leaked.

Indravadan Parmar and some others hatched the conspiracy to obtain the question paper in advance with the help of a Delhi-based gang, said Gandhinagar Superintendent of Police Mayur Chavda.

 

"Parmar was in contact with this gang which had promised to provide the question paper for money. He and some of his accomplices, who are yet to be arrested, then decided to send some candidates to Delhi to collect the paper," Chavda told reporters.

Two days before the examination, around 30 persons, including some candidates, reached Delhi, where the gang provided them the question paper and answers.

In return, the gang collected cheques of Rs 5 lakh from each candidate.

"Though the gang members asked these candidates not to write down anything and just memorise every question, Solanki managed to write them down on a piece of paper and gave it to Parmar. Parmar passed it to other candidates. He had planned to make money by circulating the question paper," said Chavda.

Police have formed several teams to nab the members of this Delhi-based gang, he said.

As many as 8.75 lakh candidates were to appear for the examination for 9,700 posts of constable across 2,440 centres.

Prior to Thursday's arrests, police had nabbed eight persons including two BJP workers -- Manhar Patel and Mukesh Chaudhary -- in the case.

A fresh examination for constable's post would be held on January 6, the state government announced Thursday.