By Express News Service
LUCKNOW: Nearly 20 lakh candidates appearing for Uttar Pradesh Teachers Eligibility Test (UPTET) on Sunday were in for a shock as the exam was cancelled shortly before it was to begin after a question paper was leaked. The UP government said 26 persons had been arrested in this connection. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said the National Security Act and Gangster Act would be invoked against those involved.
The exam, conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Board, will now be held within a month. The government will bear the entire expenditure on the re-examination, said additional chief secretary, Basic Education Department, Deepak Kumar. The Board said the new date for the exam would be notified soon and that candidates would not have to pay fees.
Sixteen of the 26 suspects were arrested from Prayagraj, including Rajendra Patel, the alleged mastermind of the whole operation, and Satya Prakash Singh, an assistant teacher at a primary school, a government statement said.
Among the arrested, four persons were arrested from Lucknow, three from Shamli and one each from Kaushambi, Ayodhya and Ambedkarnagar districts. The trio arrested from Shamli had procured 10 copies of the question paper for Rs 5 lakh and had taken Rs 50,000 from 50-60 candidates each to give them access to the papers. One Sunny Singh of the gang was instrumental in sourcing paper solvers from Bihar, the government statement said.
Uttar Pradesh’s Additional Director General, Law and Order, said the matter would be probed by the STF. The CM announced that the “re-exam will be held in a transparent manner within one month”. At a function in Deoria, he said, “Instructions were also given to conduct the exam within a month, and that no candidate should be charged additional fee.”
Opposition lashes out at Yogi govtOpposition parties hit out at the Yogi government for “playing with the future of nearly 20 lakh aspirants”. SP chief Akhilesh Yadav said such incidents had become a norm in the state under BJP. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, too, alleged that corruption in education and recruitment had become common under the BJP. BSP chief Mayawati has demanded a high-level probe
