Minister of State for Home Harsh Sanghvi on Friday admitted that question papers for the government head clerks recruitment exam held on December 12 were leaked. He said that an FIR has been registered in Sabarkantha district in north Gujarat while police have already arrested six suspects out of ten whose names figured during the probe.
88,000 candidates had appeared for the recruitment examination for 186 posts on December 12. Aam Aadmi Party's Gujarat youth wing president Yuvrajsinh Jadeja alleged the paper was leaked from Sabarkantha district and had shared photographs as proof. The government initially denied the allegations, but following public outcry, it ordered a probe.
"Following reports in press and social media and based on our inquiry, we have registered an FIR at Prantij police station in Sabarkantha district against 10 persons, six of whom, have already been arrested, while probe is on trace the remaining suspects. We have registered the FIR under various sections of Indian Penal Code including 406 (criminal breach of trust), 409 (Criminal breach of trust by public servant, or by banker, merchant or agent), 420 (cheating) and section 120 B (conspiracy) under Indian Penal Code," MoS Sanghvi said while addressing the media in Gandhinagar.
Those arrested have been identified as Mahesh K Patel, a resident of Ahmedabad; Chintan P Patel, resident of Prantij; Dhruv B Barot, Darsh K Vyas, Suresh Patel and Kuldip N Patel, all residents of Sabarkantha. When asked if fresh examinations would be held, Sanghvi said, "As of now, the focus is to solve the case. The decision to hold fresh exams or not will be taken by Gujarat Subordinate Service Selection Board (GSSB)."
GSSB chairman Asit Vora had been denying the leak. He had said that the exams held in Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, among other districts, were "completely" transparent and the board hadn't received any complaint.
Meanwhile, Gujarat congress spokesperson, Manish Doshi claimed that since 2014 till this year, question papers of at least nine recruitment examinations were leaked. Some of the exams included chief officer by Gujarat Public Service Commission, exams for talati, Lok Rakshak Dal, among others.
"The main reason behind these leaks is corruption due to the involvement of influential people in the government. But, sadly, they are never caught. The big fish always escapes the law while those who get caught are mostly ordinary people," Doshi alleged.
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