Guwahati: Another person has been arrested in connection with the alleged Arunachal Pradesh Public Service Commission (APPSC) question paper leak, a senior police official said Wednesday.
This has the total number of arrests for the alleged leak of a questionnaire for the assistant engineers (citizen)net exam taken by APPSC in August to six.
Arunachal Pradesh police arrested the sixth suspect early on Tuesday in Itanagar.
The man, identified as 44-year-old Dilip Saha from Dum Dum in Kolkata, was arrested on the basis of information provided by Taket Jerang, deputy secretary and deputy auditor of APPSC’s investigations.
“Jerang admitted that he leaked the question paper before it was printed, in coordination with Saha, who brought the paper to the press,” the SP Jimmy Chiram of the region’s capital told media in Itanagar.
Jerang was arrested on September 16.
In addition to Jerang, four others were previously arrested, including a teacher from a coaching institute, a candidate, his father and an intermediary. On August 26 and 27, the main exams were held to fill 33 positions of assistant engineers. A total of 415 candidates appeared for the exams.
The initial investigation revealed that in 2021 the candidate’s father had approached the intermediary to find a link to purchase the main exam questionnaire for his son. The intermediary had bribed the deputy examiner of the exams and the questionnaires had been illegally obtained and given to the candidate before the test was administered, the SP said.
During the investigation, it was found that the sealed questionnaire had been copied by the deputy examiner of the exams and sent to the candidate through the intermediary.
The candidate had allegedly consulted the teacher for answers to the questionnaire obtained. The teacher had reportedly revealed the questions to another student, who filed a written complaint about the alleged leakage of paper to police on August 29 – two days after the exam.
After receipt of the complaint, a preliminary investigation took place and the report was submitted to the SP secretariat on 10 September. The case was subsequently registered.
During the investigation, it was found that in 2021 the intermediary was paid Rs 43 lakh cash by the candidate’s father to obtain the main examination questionnaire. The intermediary had given Rs 15 lakh to the deputy controller of the investigations and kept the rest with him. The two had invested the money in real estate, according to the SP.
A special investigation team had been assembled and police seized two vehicles, invoices and memos for purchasing hardware and other equipment related to the case, Chiram added.
Meanwhile, the APPSC announced on Wednesday that Jerang has been suspended effective September 16, the date he was arrested. The results of the assistant driver (civil) mains power exam have been cancelled. “New dates for the re-examination will be announced at a later date,” said a press statement from APPSC.
The written exams for the positions of female medical officers, veterinary officers, assistant conservator of forests, postgraduate teachers and dairy development officers have also been postponed until further notice.
“APPSC is conducting an internal audit of its own office procedures to identify the weak links so that such anomalies do not recur,” the official said, adding that the arrested candidate has been barred from all exams conducted by APPSC until the completion of the case by the court.
This has the total number of arrests for the alleged leak of a questionnaire for the assistant engineers (citizen)net exam taken by APPSC in August to six.
Arunachal Pradesh police arrested the sixth suspect early on Tuesday in Itanagar.
The man, identified as 44-year-old Dilip Saha from Dum Dum in Kolkata, was arrested on the basis of information provided by Taket Jerang, deputy secretary and deputy auditor of APPSC’s investigations.
“Jerang admitted that he leaked the question paper before it was printed, in coordination with Saha, who brought the paper to the press,” the SP Jimmy Chiram of the region’s capital told media in Itanagar.
Jerang was arrested on September 16.
In addition to Jerang, four others were previously arrested, including a teacher from a coaching institute, a candidate, his father and an intermediary. On August 26 and 27, the main exams were held to fill 33 positions of assistant engineers. A total of 415 candidates appeared for the exams.
The initial investigation revealed that in 2021 the candidate’s father had approached the intermediary to find a link to purchase the main exam questionnaire for his son. The intermediary had bribed the deputy examiner of the exams and the questionnaires had been illegally obtained and given to the candidate before the test was administered, the SP said.
During the investigation, it was found that the sealed questionnaire had been copied by the deputy examiner of the exams and sent to the candidate through the intermediary.
The candidate had allegedly consulted the teacher for answers to the questionnaire obtained. The teacher had reportedly revealed the questions to another student, who filed a written complaint about the alleged leakage of paper to police on August 29 – two days after the exam.
After receipt of the complaint, a preliminary investigation took place and the report was submitted to the SP secretariat on 10 September. The case was subsequently registered.
During the investigation, it was found that in 2021 the intermediary was paid Rs 43 lakh cash by the candidate’s father to obtain the main examination questionnaire. The intermediary had given Rs 15 lakh to the deputy controller of the investigations and kept the rest with him. The two had invested the money in real estate, according to the SP.
A special investigation team had been assembled and police seized two vehicles, invoices and memos for purchasing hardware and other equipment related to the case, Chiram added.
Meanwhile, the APPSC announced on Wednesday that Jerang has been suspended effective September 16, the date he was arrested. The results of the assistant driver (civil) mains power exam have been cancelled. “New dates for the re-examination will be announced at a later date,” said a press statement from APPSC.
The written exams for the positions of female medical officers, veterinary officers, assistant conservator of forests, postgraduate teachers and dairy development officers have also been postponed until further notice.
“APPSC is conducting an internal audit of its own office procedures to identify the weak links so that such anomalies do not recur,” the official said, adding that the arrested candidate has been barred from all exams conducted by APPSC until the completion of the case by the court.