Gujarat Paper Leak: 15 Accused Arrested, Recovered Papers Match Originals, Says ATS

Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS) have arrested all accused persons involved in the Panchayat Junior Clerk paper leak case, informed officials. According to the ATS, the latest accused to be arrested was in charge of printing the question paper for the competitive exam for the Panchayat Junior Clerk, which was leaked. The Gujarat government on Sunday cancelled the competitive exam for the Panchayat Junior Clerk recruitment, hours before it was scheduled to be held, owing to the paper leak, said officials.

The accused was identified as Jeet Naik, hailing from Hyderabad. "A person from Hyderabad, Jeet Naik, who was in charge of printing the question paper, has been arrested by Gujarat ATS and the process to bring him here is underway. A gang from Bihar, led by Mr. Paswan, was also involved in it. All the accused persons have been arrested," Gujarat ATS SP Sunil Joshi said. Joshi added that the recovered question papers matched the original.

"We have arrested 15 accused persons so far. Pradip Naik from Odisha, who was supposed to leak the paper, was in touch with two other accused, Ketan and Bhaskar, who was involved in previous paper leaks.

The recovered question papers matched with the original," he said. As per the Chief Minister`s Office (CMO), over 9.50 lakh candidates had registered for the exam which was to be conducted from 11 am on Sunday. Based on a tip-off, Gujarat Police detained a suspect. They recovered a copy of the question paper of the exam early Sunday morning, after which the Gujarat Panchayat Service Selection Board (GPSSB) decided to postpone the exam."On the basis of the information received by the police, a suspect, Isam, was arrested and a copy of the question paper was found from him.

Criminal police action and further investigation are being done," stated Gujarat Panchayat Service Selection Board, Gandhinagar. Sandip Kumar, chairman in-charge of Gujarat Panchayat Service Selection Board, said it appeared to be the work of an organized gang."One suspect was held by the police early Sunday morning. During questioning, he disclosed the paper leak. 15 accused persons have been caught so far.

It appears to have been the handiwork of an organized gang," said Kumar. Meanwhile, the SP of Gujarat ATS said they were continuously keeping a watch on people who are related to previous paper leak incidents."Gujarat ATS is continuously keeping watch on people involved in previous paper leak incidents.

As many as 15 accused persons have been arrested from Vadodara with question papers. The government has decided to cancel the exam. Further investigation is underway," said Joshi.The new exam date will be announced soon and the candidates from across the state will be allowed to travel free on showing their examination passes.