Five persons were arrested in Prayagraj for allegedly taking money to help candidates clear a teacher recruitment test, the police said.
The police are still investigating the case, in which eight have been booked. The arrest comes a week after the Allahabad High Court stayed the process to appoint 69,000 assistant basic education teachers in Uttar Pradesh after discrepancies were found in the answer key published with the result.
Prayagraj Senior Superintendent of Police Satyarth Aniruddha Pankaj told journalists that the accused persons would prepare the answer sheet for the question paper and give it to the candidates in exchange for a hefty sum. The accused had allegedly got the question paper leaked through Bluetooth, or in collusion with the in-charge of the examination centre, he said.
The main accused was identified as K.L. Patel, a medical officer and former Zilla Panchayat member, who reportedly runs several educational institutions. A sum of ₹22 lakh and two luxury cars were seized from the accused, Mr. Pankaj said.
Minister of State for Basic Education Satish Dwivedi said that if solid evidence of “fraud” was found, the matter would be probed and tough action taken.
The matter came to light after one of the candidates, hailing from Pratapgarh, could not clear the test despite his having paid a certain sum to the accused persons.
Anil Bhushan Chaturvedi, Secretary, Exam Regulatory Authority, said some candidates who had failed lodged a complaint with the police. But it did not appear to be a State-wide leak of the question paper, but the wrongdoing of a few at a particular centre. Further action would be taken after the police submitted their report, he told The Hindu .
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said the manner in which the discrepancies in the recruitment process were coming to light was shocking and called the entire system into question. She demanded that the Yogi Adityanath government reveal all the facts. “The future of UP’s youngsters is being crushed,” she said, tweeting a link on a candidate who had secured 142 out of 150 marks, but could not tell the name of the President of India when quizzed by a police officer in Prayagraj.
