The Central Crime Branch police, who uncovered a questioned paper leak racket on Saturday – a day before the competitive examination for the post of First Division Assistant was scheduled to be held – have arrested 14 people so far. The examination, organised by the Karnataka Public Service Commission, has since been cancelled and new dates will be announced.
According to the police, Chandru, who is the prime accused in the racket, is an inspector with the commercial tax vigilance squad. “He was running the racket with his associate, Rachappa, a native of Belagavi. The investigation so far revealed that Chandru obtained the question paper two days ago and prepared handwritten answer-scripts which he would deliver to his customers in person,” said a senior police official.
The CCB team is yet to ascertain how they got the question paper in the first place and source of the leak. “We have reason to believe that some Karnataka Public Service Commission staff were also involved in the racket,” the official added.
Chandru and his associates were careful to avoid social media platforms. They never shared the question paper or answer-scripts on WhatsApp or other platforms fearing that it would be used as digital evidence if they got caught.
The gang was arrested in Ullal on Saturday after the police received a tip off. When the team arrived at the location, they found Chandru and some of his associates waiting on the side of the road with the question papers and answer scripts. The police also seized Rs. 24 lakh in cash and three vehicles from them. According to the police, they would used the vehicles to circulate the papers to their customers.
The police are analyzing the call record details of those arrested to ascertain their network and their clients.
