7 arrested in UP Police recruitment exam paper leak case from Meerut

Meerut: The Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force (STF) has arrested seven people from Meerut and Delhi for their alleged involvement in the recent police recruitment exam paper leak case, officials said on Wednesday.

The accused are alleged to be members of a gang involved in the question paper leak of the Uttar Pradesh Recruitment and Promotion Board examination on February 17 and 18, the STF said in a statement.

The state government had cancelled the exam following allegations of a mass scale paper leak. Some people were arrested earlier this month.

In Meerut, Deepak, Bittu, Praveen, Rohit, Naveen, Sahil, all residents of the district, were arrested from a house in Kanker Kheda Police station on Tuesday night, the officials said.

While Gautam Buddha Nagar-resident Pramod Pathak was arrested from Mukharjee Nagar in Delhi the same night.

Their gang is also allegedly involved in arranging paper-solvers and leaking questions to candidates preparing for competitive exams, the STF statement read.

Police said several documents related to the 2024 constable recruitment examination, solved question papers, multiple mobile phones and cash were seized from the accused.

The accused allegedly took anywhere between Rs 8 Lakh to 10 Lakh from the candidates on the promise of leaking the question paper, they said.

The STF has lodged two FIRs against the accused under Indian Penal Code sections 419 (punishment for cheating by personation), 420 (cheating by inducement), 467 (forgery of valuable documents), 468 (forgery for the purpose of cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document) and 386 (extortion by putting any person in fear of death or of grievous hurt) at the Kankar Kheda and Sector 39 Police station of Meerut and Gautam Buddha Nagar districts.