There were allegations of a suspected paper leak following a complaint submitted by Inspector Ram Babu Singh at Lucknow’s Krishna Nagar police station.In his complaint, Singh said, “On February 18, I was on duty along with others when we saw that candidate Satya Aman Kumar was filling up his OMR sheet by copying from a sheet of paper… He had been brought to the examination control room. Initially, he denied any wrongdoing, but after he was asked strictly, he said that his friend Neeraj had told him that he would get him a solved question paper in exchange for money. He sent me a sheet of paper on my phone which had all the right answers. And I copied those answers on a sheet of paper and brought it to the examination.”The case was lodged under Section 420 (cheating) of the Indian Penal Code, under the Information Technology Act, and the Uttar Pradesh Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act.Notably, there had been protests by the candidates in various districts including the state capital Lucknow, Kanpur, Agra and Prayagraj over the paper leak allegations. The protestors had been demanding the cancellation of the examination.A senior police officer said, “Both accused have been arrested and sent to judicial custody. We are investigating the case.” As per the STF sources, so far 22 persons were arrested in connection with the fraud. The state government directed the Police Recruitment Board to lodge the FIR initiating legal action against those authorities which remained complacent during the examination.Earlier, the Police Recruitment Board had constituted an internal committee to verify claims made on social media about a paper leak after the examination was completed. The committee was also tasked with assessing improvements required for future recruitments. A senior officer stated that they had requested individuals who claimed the question paper was leaked to provide evidence.AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had also slammed the UP government on Friday over paper leak allegations demanding a CBI inquiry and strict action against the culprits. Referring to the police recruitment exam, she said more than 50 lakh youths filled up forms for the test and this was the biggest examination in the history of the state.
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