The Thane police late on Saturday night arrested 18 persons in connection with the Army Recruitment Board (ARB) question paper leak. Acting on a tip-off, the Thane Crime Branch raided many hotels and lodges in Pune, Nagpur and Goa and detained 350 candidates who were answering question papers.
Santosh Shinde, main accused from the Chhatrapati Academy, has been arrested.
The ARB exams, for a number of posts, including clerks, strongmen and tradesman, were scheduled to be held at 52 centres across the country on Sunday.
According to the police, the tip-off came from a coaching class in Thane, which warned that another coaching class, run by a retired army officer, was taking Rs 4-5 lakh from each candidate and was planning to leak the question papers. The papers were leaked through WhatsApp. The police suspect that the papers were leaked either from the press they were printed or from distribution centres.
"The role of serving and retired Army officers cannot be ruled out," Ashutosh Dumbare, Joint Commissioner of Police, Thane, said.
According to an officer, the modus operandi was like this. "The answer sheets written by the candidates a day before would be appended with the papers form the exam centres the next day," said an officer. Around 80 officials of the Thane police were involved in the operation. The middlemen had also arranged for fake domicile and residence certificates to help candidates from other zones.
A case has been registered under various Sections of the Indian Penal Code, IT Act and Prevention of Corruption Act against the accused. Among those arrested, nine are from Pune, six from Nagpur and three from Goa. Of the detained candidates, 79 are from Pune, 222 from Nagpur and 49 from Goa, PTI reported.
Were exams cancelled or not? Confusion, confusion!
Thane police raid hotels in Pune, Nagpur, Goa on Saturday night.
Still, exams not cancelled on Sunday.
Defence PRO, Nagpur, Wing Commander Samir Gangakhedkar's explanation:
We wanted to verify whether the question papers caught on Saturday were indeed the ones meant for Sunday. It could be done only after the seal of the papers are broken at exam centres. We were intimated by the Crime Branch just before the exams. We conducted the exams and forwarded the papers and the inputs of the Crime Branch to our headquarters.
Army response from New Delhi: "Countermanded" exam at Pune zone. Internal inquiry ordered.
One Army source: Prior to the exam, we've informed the police and the intelligence agencies to ensure fair examination.
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