Indo-ASIAN NEWS SERVICE

BHOPAL - A dozen people have been arrested in connection with the leak of a question paper of the Junior Data Entry Operator Exam conducted by the Madhya Pradesh Professional Exam Board (PEB), police said Monday.

The PEB has cancelled the selection test conducted Sunday for posts of Data Entry Operators in the Office of the Commissioner of Land Records, Gwalior Division.

Senior officials suspect that those arrested are members of the alleged paper leak gang. Apart from them there could be many more in the network, investigators said adding that the initial probe reveals involvement of some PEB employees.

“The question paper seized from the accused on the eve of the examination was exactly similar to the one that was set for the exam,” police said. The gang members, according to the police, had identified aspirants both from within and outside the state and assured them that the entire question paper supplied by them and that by the PEB for examination would be the same.

They also told the aspirants to pay some percentage of the money promised in advance and the remaining when the examination was over. They were told about the bank accounts in which the money had to be deposited. Eight such bank accounts have been identified so far.

“The money was to be paid in stages to the accused. Some amount was to be paid when the paper was delivered and the rest after the examination if all the questions tallied,” Additional Superintendent of Police Ruchi Srivastava said.

She added that the culprits used to keep the original mark-sheets of the aspirants telling them that if they didn’t pay the rest of the money after the examination, they wouldn’t get the documents back.

“Of the 12 people arrested, 10 have been remanded to police custody for a week. More names are likely to come up during the course of investigations,” she said.

Chairman of the board M.K. Rai confirmed the cancellation of the exam, saying: “The exam stands cancelled. There is no decision on the next date.”

Over 21,000 candidates had appeared for the selection