Army recruitment exam papers leaked in Thane; 18 persons nabbed
The police had learned that former army officials had handed the owners of these centres copies of the secret question papers.
Mumbai: The Thane police’s crime branch on Saturday night, in the wake of the leak of exam papers meant for an Army Recruitment Board test for Sunday, conducted searches on the premises of eight coaching centres in a state-wide operation. The police had learned that former army officials had handed the owners of these centres copies of the secret question papers.
The police on Sunday nabbed 18 persons, including 15 associated with the coaching centres, two former army officials and a serving home guard official for their complicity in the entire racket.
18 held for Army exam paper leak
The police probe found that there was a breach in the security protocol related to the exam’s secrecy, wherein somebody accessed the question papers stored in password-protected compact disks distributed to the heads of examination centres in the state.
After securing copies of the question papers from their sources, the coaching centres had allegedly handed them over to certain examinees at the rate of '2-3 lakh per candidate, said police sources.
“The arrests were made in Nashik, Pune, Nagpur and Goa. More than 200 students were detained by the police as well,” joint commissioner of police Ashutosh Dumbare told Deccan Chronicle. Sunday’s exam got cancelled as a result of the leak at six centres in Maharashtra and Goa.
On February 26, the exam was held around 11 am throughout the country. The exams were held for a number of lower level posts including soldier clerk, strongman and soldier tradesman in 52 centres across the country.