Railway exam paper leak: Several officials arrested, over Rs 1.5 cr seized

Nine railway officials have been arrested and charged, along with several unknown candidates, by the CBI in connection with a Departmental Examination Paper Leak Scam under the East Central Railway at Mughal Sarai, just ahead of an exam scheduled for Tuesday. According to an official, a total of 26 railway officials have been arrested so far in the case, with investigators also seizing Rs 1.17 crore, allegedly collected from candidates for leaking the question papers.

Railway Examination Scammed Ahead of Schedule

The East Central Railway had scheduled a departmental examination for the positions of Chief Loco Inspectors on Tuesday. During checks carried out by the CBI at three locations past midnight on March 3 at Mughal Sarai, a total of 17 candidates were found in possession of photocopies of hand-written question papers. The accused officials include Senior Divisional Electrical Engineer (Ops) Sushant Prashar and Senior DEE Indu Prakash.

The Leak Scheme and Arrests

The investigation revealed that the Senior DEE (Ops) was tasked with setting and preparing the question paper for the examination. In his own handwriting, he wrote the questions in English, which were then allegedly given to a Loco Pilot. The Loco Pilot translated the questions into Hindi, passing them to an OS (Trg.), who allegedly distributed the leaked papers to candidates through other railway employees.

The CBI arrested the Senior DEE (Ops) and several other railway employees accused of collecting money and distributing the question papers. Seventeen departmental candidates, mostly Loco Pilots, were caught with the leaked papers and arrested after allegedly paying for the questions.

Ongoing Investigation and Additional Arrests

In total, 26 railway officials have been arrested in connection with the scam. Some of the accused named in the CBI FIR include N.K. Verma, R.N.S. Yadav, Ajeet Singh, Anish Kumar, Nityanand Yadav, Krishna Yadav, and Suryanath.

The FIR detailed that Krishan Yadav, one of the accused, had accepted bribes from candidates to ensure their selection in the upcoming exam. On March 1, he reportedly promised a candidate that the question paper would be provided to him on the night of March 3 at an undisclosed location, where he would be kept until the exam.

Seized Materials and Confirmation of Leak

The CBI seized the hand-written question papers along with their photocopies. Upon comparison with the original question paper, investigators confirmed that the photocopies matched exactly with the authentic exam paper.

The investigation is ongoing, and more arrests are expected as the CBI continues to uncover details of the scam.