Gujarat postpones junior clerk exam after question paper leak, 15 arrested

The rampant leaks had become a major poll plank of opposition AAP and Congress in the recently held Assembly elections

In yet another embarrassment to Gujarat government, the competitive recruitment examination paper of junior clerks in Gujarat government was "postponed" after reports of question paper leak barely few hours before the scheduled exams on Sunday morning.

This postponement sparked protests by thousands of candidates who had reached their centres spread across the state. The opposition Congress and Aam Aadmi Party launched a salvo against the BJP government over the paper leak. The student wing of Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) also protested against the government over rampant leaks.

According to opposition leaders since 2014, this was the 15th occasion when question papers of recruitment exams were leaked hours before the scheduled exams. Earlier papers of Gujarat Public Service Commission chief officers, papers for talati exams were leaked twice, Teachers Aptitude Test, Nayab Chitnish, non-sachivalaya clerk, sub auditors, forest guard, among others.

The fresh exams for junior clerks were to be conducted on Sunday morning in which about 10 lakh candidates had applied for 3350 posts. The examination was being conducted by Gujarat Panchayat Service Selection Board. In a statement, the government said that the exams were postponed in view of suspicion of leak. It said that the decision was taken after police information that one suspicious person was caught Saturday night with a copy of the question paper.

"While the police are investigating the case further to lodge a criminal case, it has been decided to postpone the recruitment examination in the interest of candidates," the statement read. It added that a new date for conducting the exams will be decided soon.

In another statement, the government said that since the exams were postponed, the candidates can travel back home free of cost in state transport buses by showing their identity cards.

Government sources said that ATS was roped in to investigate the leak. Sources said that ATS apprehended a dozen persons in Vadodara for questioning. A team was also dispatched to Hyderabad for further investigation since the question papers were printed there.

Meanwhile, this is a latest in the string of paper leaks that the Gujarat government has been facing for over six to seven years. The rampant leaks had become a major poll plank of opposition Aam Aadmi Party and Congress in the recently held Assembly election.

Reacting to the fresh case, Delhi CM and AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal tweeted, "Almost every exam is Guj (Gujarat) gets leaked. Why? The future of crores of youth is ruined."

Gujarat Congress' legislature party leader Amit Chavda also said in a video message, "It has become a tradition to leak papers. Not once or twice but over 20 occasions the papers were leaked. This is just another attempt to ruin the future of Gujarati youths."

Investigation:

By Sunday, the Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) and Surat Crime Branch arrested 15 people from Vadodara who are suspected to be behind the leak. Majority of the accused hail from Bihar, Odisha and Ahmedabad and Vaodara. Police said that many of the suspects including Bhaskar Chaudhary, a resident of Bihar, were involved in question paper leaks in the past.

ATS officials said that they had received information on Saturday that "a person from Odisha, Pradip Nayak, Bhaskar Chaudhary, who was involved in a CBI paper leak in the past, and Ketan Barot would try to sell paper of junior clerks' examination in Vadodara."

The ATS, Surat crime branch and special operation group, Vadodara police together apprehended key accused Pradipkumar Vijaya Nayak, a resident of Ganjam, Odisha, Ketan Barot, a resident of Nana Chiloda in Ahmedabad and Bhaskar Gulabhchand Chaudhry, a resident of Chhani in Vadodara, originally from Bihar, among other accused at 1:30 AM with the question papers. They were caught at Stackwise Technology office, which is said to be run by Chaudhary in Vadodara.

The gang is alleged to have received the question paper from Jeet Nayak, who works in Hyderabad-based High-Tech Press, the firm which is reported to have printed the papers, for money.

The other arrested accused have been identified as Murari Videshi Paswan, Kamlesh Bhikhari Chaudhary, Mohammed Firoz Alam, Sarveshkumar Suryadev Narayan, Mintukumar Bisambar Rai, Mukesh Rambabu, Prabhakumar Shashidharkumar, all residents of Bihar, Aniket Pramod Bhatt, a resident of Vadodara, Raj Gunvant Barot, Pranay Kanubhai Sharma and Hardik Pravinbhai Sharma, both residents of Ahmedabad and Naresh Mohanty, who lives in Surat.