Online examinations for the recruitment of police sub-inspectors in Uttar Pradesh were cancelled on Tuesday after the question papers were allegedly leaked.
Director General of Police, Sulk Singh, directed the Special Task Force, that deals with organized crime, to probe the lapse.
Expert teams have also been instructed to assist the STF in the probe, a police spokesperson said.
The UP Police Recruitment and Promotion Board (UPPRPB) had scheduled online examinations for police recruitment from July 17 to July 31 across various centres in U.P.
However, on Monday night several online users complained to the State government and police that the papers were allegedly leaked on social media.
Looking into the matter, an additional secretary of the UPPRPB, that conducts the tests, issued a statement late on Monday informing candidates that the exams scheduled on Tuesday and Wednesday have been cancelled due to "unavoidable technical reasons" till further notice.
On Tuesday, the Board decided to cancel the entire process of recruitment, from July 17 to July 31, saying that reports of a leak had been brought to its notice.
"The entire recruitment test process has been cancelled to maintain the propriety, fairness and transparency of the examination," the Board said.
Mr. Singh has directed the police recruitment board to register an FIR in the case.
Anand Kumar, ADG Law and Order, said the system of the agency had been "compromised”.
"The Board informed us that the system of the agency, whose name we cannot disclose for confidential reasons, was reportedly hacked," Mr. Kumar said.
A case is expected to be registered at the cyber crime thana in Lucknow.
The Board said it would inform candidates about the re-scheduled examinations through SMS and email soon, while the admission letter would be available for download on the Board's website.
The exams were being held to fill more than 3,200 posts and over a lakh candidates had applied.
In its recent first budget, the Yogi Adityanath government in UP promised to recruit 33,000 police personnel, including 3,200 sub-inspectors. Over the next five years, the BJP government in the State has set itself a target of recruiting 1.25 lakh police personnel.
UP, the most-populated state in the country with over 20 crore people, has a short-staffed police force with only 1,62, 783 police personnel. Last year, the Comptroller and Auditor General
(CAG) had lambasted the State government, then under the Samajwadi Party, for not doing enough to address the acute shortage of police personnel.
For every lakh citizens, UP has only 81 policemen even as the sanctioned strength should have been 178. The national average is 136.42, which is way below the global standards.
