Attempts Made To Defame Entire System: Uttarakhand CM Dhami On Paper Leak

Dehradun: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Thursday said an attempt was made to defame the entire system by spreading words about the paper leak on social media and other platforms.

"If someone had found some question papers, it would have been their responsibility to inform the police and administration at the appropriate time. But instead of doing so, the matter was kept hidden for several hours. What was the agenda behind this? And later, with a corresponding agenda, an attempt was made to defame the entire system by spreading the word on social media and other platforms," he said.

He said incidents like cheating or a paper leak would have occurred if the paper had been released at 9 or 10 am. It could have also been released at 10:30 or 10:45 am, which did not happen. "I wouldn't call this a paper leak. You could call it a cheating case, and we have enacted a law to address cheating. It's not that there won't be criminals after the law is passed, but the law will punish them stringently," he added.

He was addressing the Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya Educational Excellence Awards ceremony in Dehradun, which honoured 75 meritorious students of Classes 10 and 12 who secured the top 10 positions in the board exams. The principals of 53 schools who performed exceptionally well were also felicitated at the event.

Meanwhile, Yamunotri MLA Sanjay Doval met with the Governor and submitted a memorandum to him in demand of a CBI investigation into the paper leak. "The Governor has also shown seriousness in the matter and has shown a positive attitude towards a CBI investigation. All agencies in the state, other than the police and the Special Task Force (STF), have failed, and the Unemployed Association appears to have a stronger network," he added.

On Wednesday, police claimed to have solved the mystery surrounding the leak of photocopies of the question paper for the graduate-level exam conducted by the Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UKSSSC) on Sunday (September 21). Doon Police made this disclosure after interrogating one Khalid Malik, the alleged mastermind of the paper leak, who was arrested in Haridwar on Tuesday.

According to police, after being taken into custody, Khalid provided many crucial details. He said he had applied to four different exam centres to find a way to leak papers. Out of these, he had identified one centre for his plan. Before the exam, he even conducted a recce of the centre. A day before the exam, he scaled a 6.5-ft wall and hid a mobile phone inside. On the day of the exam, he carried out the paper leak, following which the photocopies soon went viral.

However, police said Khalid failed in his attempt to cheat successfully. They said that further evidence, if found during the investigation, will be taken into account for further action.

Paper Leak On September 21

On September 21, photos of the UKSSSC exam question paper were leaked by an unknown person. Screenshots of the same circulated on several social media platforms. Following an investigation by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) based on a complaint lodged by UKSSSC, a case was registered at Raipur Police Station under the Uttarakhand Competitive Examination (Measures for Prevention and Control of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Ordinance, 2023. Subsequently, Dehradun (Rural) SP was handed over charge of the investigation.

How Khalid's Name Surfaced

During the course of the investigation, on September 23, Khalid's sister Sabia was interrogated and arrested. She confessed that she had sent photos of the questions from Khalid's phone to a female Assistant Professor as per Khalid's instructions. The concerned Professor provided answers, which Sabia then sent back to Khalid.

Meanwhile, teams from Dehradun, Haridwar Police and STF carried out joint raids at Khalid's possible hideouts.

Finally, on September 23, the investigating teams caught hold of Khalid. He was brought to Raipur police station, interrogated for hours, and then formally arrested. Police also recovered the mobile phone used by Sabia to forward leaked paper photos. The phone has been sent for forensic examination.

How The Plan Was Made

As per the police, Khalid had completed a civil engineering diploma in 2013 from a private university in Rajasthan, and then completed his graduation from Hapur, Uttar Pradesh (2013-2015). Earlier, he had applied for several competitive exams but narrowly missed selection. After repeated failures, he planned to smuggle a mobile phone into the exam centre, connect with an outsider, get answers and cheat. To boost his chances, he applied from different districts, so that if he found a centre where hiding a phone was possible, he would sit there for the exam.

How He Met The Assistant Professor

Police further revealed that to carry out his devised plan, Khalid needed someone to solve the questions. He contacted a female Assistant Professor in Tehri, whom he had met between 2018 and 2021 while working as a junior engineer on contract in PWD. At that time, the woman worked as a tax inspector in Rishikesh municipality, and her husband was also a PWD contractor.

Khalid was aware that the woman was preparing for competitive exams and was good at solving such questions. Days before the exam, he called her, saying it was for his sister's preparation. He requested her to help Sabia if she contacted her, the evidence of which is with the police.

Four Applications Filed For Exam

According to police, Khalid submitted four applications for the graduate-level exam, two from Tehri Garhwal and two from Haridwar. His centres included Adarsh Bal Sadan Inter College, Bahadurpur Jat (Haridwar) and another in Dhanpura, one of which was very close to his house.

On September 17, Khalid visited the Bahadurpur Jat exam centre for a recce but could not enter as it was closed. Three days later, on September 20, he again visited the centre and gathered information. That evening, he found construction work going on at the centre. Using this opportunity, he climbed a 6.5-ft boundary wall, entered the campus, and hid his switched-off cellphone among bricks and grass in the under-construction building near the exam hall.

Role Of His Sister Sabia

On September 21, in the morning, Khalid contacted the Assistant Professor on WhatsApp and sent her some photos of questions. He handed over his phone to his sister Sabia before going inside the exam hall. Her job was to forward the photos to the professor, collect answers and send them back to Khalid.

After frisking, Khalid retrieved the hidden phone, kept it in his jacket, and sat for the test. Being familiar with exam routines, he knew that at the start, invigilators were busy checking OMR sheets.

He clicked photos of three pages of the paper. But nervousness and fear of being caught stopped him from clicking more. Taking permission to go to the bathroom, he sent these photos to Sabia, who forwarded them to the professor. Answers were then sent back to Khalid.

However, he could not look at the answers, as invigilators refused to let him go out again. Eventually, he filled his OMR sheet with guessed answers. Police are verifying this by cross-checking with UKSSSC.

How He Tried To Escape

After the exam, Khalid returned home but soon realised that screenshots of the leaked paper were all over social media. Panicked, he fled with Sabia and the phones to Delhi. He destroyed the SIM cards, enabled factory reset in the phones, and travelled to Lucknow in the Avadh-Assam train. On the way, he threw the mobile phone used in the crime into a dustbin in the train coach. Later, he returned to Haridwar by Doon Express and planned to surrender. But before he could surrender, joint police teams arrested him.

What Officials Said

Speaking on the matter, Dehradun (Rural) SP Jaya Baluni revealed, "So far, no evidence has been found regarding the involvement of any organised gang. Khalid failed to fill in the leaked answers in his OMR sheet. Further evidence is being collected. People with any proof can share it with the investigators. For this, a phone number and email ID will be issued."

Meanwhile, the Uttarakhand government has formulated an SIT under the supervision of a retired High Court judge for this case. Chief Secretary Anand Vardhan informed that SIT has been asked to submit its report within one month. Until then, the results of the exam will not be declared.

Police DG Deepam Seth said, "The SIT will function independently and examine all facts. SP (Rural) Jaya Baluni is a thorough professional; she will head the SIT. A retired judge will monitor the entire investigation. Baluni's mobile phone number and email will be shared, and it will be available for one month so that anyone with relevant information can directly contact the SIT."

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1. Uttarakhand Police Nab UKSSSC Paper Leak Mastermind From Haridwar
2. UKSSSC Paper Leak: Uttarakhand Govt On Backfoot, Reinstates Suspended Official After 2 Years