SHIMLA: Opposition parties- Congress, CPIM and AAP have sought the removal of DGP. Police on the other have claimed that SIT is about to bust the infamous Police Constable paper leakage scam.
Apart from the political parties, citizens' groups are also outraged, saying that the "main culprits" involved in paper leakage are yet to be touched or nabbed so far.
CBI Probe Not Fair
Congress President Pratibha Singh and Chairperson of the Campaign Committee Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu have questioned the CBI probe ordered into the police constable recruitment paper leakage.
They charge the CBI comes under the Home Ministry while state home department comes under Chief Minister and hence they would try to protect the prime accused responsible for paper leakage scam. The paper leakages have tainted the Clean Image of Himachal Pradesh, Pratibha Singh charged.
CPIM: Police Protecting Actual Culprits, Bats for High Court Monitored Probe
CPIM senior leader and Theog MLA Rakesh Singha who along with its state secretary Dr Onkar Shad and Dr Kuldip Singh Tanwar and others submitted the memorandum to the state Governor Rajendra Vishwanath Arklekar few days back, demanding the probe into scam from the sitting judge of High Court of Himachal Pradesh.
“We have seen how CBI conducted shoddy probe into the Gudia rape and murder case. We don’t expect justice from it in this case as well as actual culprits would not be brought to justice”, Singha charged.
Singh further demanded that if the Jai Ram Thakur’s government has right intention to do a fair probe, then it should send DGP on long leave.
Police and the government are Protecting Actual Offenders: AAP
AAP has raised similar questions against the Police and the Jai Ram Thakur's government. Only candidates, parents, small fries are being nabbed while the actual offenders are being protected that speaks volumes about government's intention, charged AAP spokesperson Gaurav Sharma.
Real Accused Still At Large
The Police Special Investigation Team(SIT) is picking up only those who got the paper by paying money. The real accused who are responsible for leakage of papers remain absconding as they are being protected by the state government”, Singha claimed.
Considering the large scale involvement of agents, kingpins and certain officials, police paper leakage scam runs into several crores of rupees, Singha claimed.
“The scam has exposed complete failure of police department to conduct the examination, which is none of its business”, Singha said. “Henceforth only public service commission should conduct all examinations transparently to restore public faith in the system”, he demanded.
HP Police Nabs a Kingpin from Varanasi
On the other hand, DGP today in a media release claimed that SIT has reached critical phase in investigation of this matter.
HP DGP talked to DGPs of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Bihar and Commissioner of Police Delhi and requested them to provide assistance in arresting kingpins pertaining to their states. DGP said one vehicle, Verna has been seized by Solan Police.
Paper Leakages a Countrywide organised Crime: DGP
What is emerging is that paper leakage all over the country has become an organized crime, DGP said. The king-pins use laptop, computers, mobiles, artificial intelligence and other technologies in this crime, police found.
Since most of the public examinations are held on Sundays, SIT found that “paper leakage organized crime” has it modus-operandi.
They get a schedule of public examinations to be held all over the country. They secure the questions paper through their organized crime networks, police claimed.
They then identify potential candidates through a network of coaching classes and agents. They leak question papers on consideration of money, Police said.
The kingpins change their phones and sims every week to avoid detection and arrest. In case, some of them are arrested or stay in police and judicial custody, then on release they restart the crime.
Police Catch Kingpin Shiv Bhadur Singh from Varanasi
SIT has arrested one of the kingpins, Shiv Bhadur Singh, from Varanasi with assistance of UP Special Task Force (STF). Bhadur has been involved in as many as eight cases in the past.
He is involved in FIR No. 128/16 in JBT/TGT Paper Leak Scam on 7/7/2017 and again on 13/10/2017. He was taken on production warrant in Case FIR No 201/17 in TGT paper leak scam.
Bhadur was arrested by Punjab Police in FIR No 4 dated 6.4. 2016 for paper leak of Senior Assistant & SDO in Municipal Corporation Punjab.
He was nabbed in FIR No 5 date 24.05. 2016 for leaking of Inspector Grade 1 paper. He was wanted in FIR no 6 dated 25.05 2016 for leaking of JE exam in PUDA. In FIR No 15 dated 16. 10. 2016 for leaking of SDO exam in Punjab Irrigation Department.
Bhadur was also arrested by UP Police in FIR no 45/2006 for leaking Railway Recruitment Scam Group D Exam of 2006. He was arrested by Hyderabad Police in FIR no 18 dated 25. 07.2016 for Medical Entrance Exam.
Police Not Catching Bigger Culprits Responsible for Paper Leakages
Even if Bahadur has turned out to be a major kingpin in eight cases of paper leakages, but the police agencies have yet to explain as to how and from whom he used to procure these question papers, questioned the citizens group.
“Why no official(s) accountable for the safe custody of papers were not arrested?”, asked the members of a civil society group.
After all, Bhadur-like kingpins have direct access to these officials or paper setters or so from whom people like him used to get or buy question papers before he leaked and sold them to agents or actual beneficiaries or candidates, they pointed out.
Earlier, SIT have arrested 91 persons including candidates, agents, three parents in connection with the case and recovered money that was allegedly given to agents to buy papers. The paper was leaked in over a dozen centres across the state, revealed the sources.
DGP says they hope some more king-pins will be arrested in days to come.
In the meantime the SIT is getting its paper work ready to hand over to CBI as and when they arrive to take over the investigation of this case.
