Uttarakhand paper leak case: Cong stages statewide sit-in as protest demanding CBI inquiry continues

Dehradun, Sep 26 (PTI) The standoff between the agitating students and the state government over a CBI probe into the alleged paper leak in the Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UKSSSC) exam continued on Friday, with the opposition Congress also staging a statewide sit-in over the demand.

The state government's efforts to persuade the protesters, who had set up a tent outside the Parade Ground here and staged an indefinite sit-in protest under the banner of the Uttarakhand Unemployed Union, protesting the alleged leak of three pages of a question paper from the graduate-level competitive exam conducted by the commission on Sunday, failed on Friday.

Dehradun District Magistrate Savin Bansal visited the protest site and spoke to the protesters, informing them of the steps taken by the state government in this matter and urging them to end their protest. "We have informed the students that the government has formed a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to investigate the matter and appointed a former high court judge to oversee the investigation," Bansal said.

Meanwhile, the Congress staged protests across the state to press for a CBI investigation under the supervision of a serving high court judge and warned that if their demands are not met, they will “gherao” the chief minister's residence on October 3.

Leading the protest in Dehradun, state Congress president Karan Mahara called on party workers to fight the government till the end on this issue.

In addition, the state government has suspended Sector Magistrate KN Tiwari, appointed to conduct the examination in Haridwar, Inspector Rohit Kumar, and constable Brahmadutt Joshi, posted at the examination center in Haridwar, for negligence. Suman, an assistant professor of history at a college in Tehri, who acted as the solver of the question paper, which Khalid photographed using his mobile phone, has also been suspended in the case. PTI DPT MNK MNK