Shimla: Making headway in the Himachal Police Constable Recruitment Paper Leak scam, the CBI on Tuesday conducted searches at around 50 locations in seven states.
As per the information, the CBI has conducted searches in Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Uttarakhand, Delhi, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana and reportedly seized incriminating documents.
A CBI spokesperson, in an official statement, revealed that the searches on Tuesday were conducted in Kangra, Una, Mandi, Hamirpur, Kullu, Shimla, Sirmaur districts in Himachal Pradesh; Nalanda, Samastipur, Munger, Lakhisarai, Patna and Navada in Bihar; Haridwar and Dehradun in Uttarakhand; Pathankot in Punjab; Jaunpur, Varanasi, Gazipur and Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh; Rewari in Haryana and in Delhi.
Himachal Police Constable Recruitment written exam was held on March 27, 2022, and was leaked ahead of the date. During the probe, it was found that several middlemen based in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal Pradesh, Delhi, Haryana and Punjab were allegedly operating in an organised manner to leak the papers.
Also Read: Opposition demands CBI inquiry in Constable Recruitment paper Leak scam
75,000 candidates appeared in Police Recruitment written exam
Around 75,000 candidates appeared in the written exam for the Police Constable recruitment on March 27, the result of which was declared on April 5.
Soon after the exam, a WhatsApp chat was widely shared, triggering fear that the paper had been leaked. Senior police officials dismissed them as rumours.
The leak was detected on May 6 when Kangra police, on the basis of suspicion, arrested three candidates who later admitted to having seen the solved paper before the exam.
The state government cancel the examination on May 6 and Himachal Police constituted a special investigation team (SIT) on May 7 to probe the matter.
Subsequently, a first information report (FIR) was registered at Gaggal police station in Kangra under Sections 420 (cheating), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence or proving false information) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code. At the same time, the state government cancelled the exam. Two FIRs were registered at the state CID police station, Bharari, in Shimla and Arki in Solan district.
The SIT, during the course of the investigation, arrested about 253 persons, including the owner of the printing press, staff, owners of coaching centres, kingpin, agents, candidates and their family members. While chargesheets were filed in the court against over 150 accused.
Following the pressure from the opposition and the general public, then state government handed over the investigation to the CBI. The CBI took over the investigations.
