Finally, Gujarat admits recruitment exam paper leak, six held

Gandhinagar, Dec 17 (IANS) The Gujarat government on Friday admitted that question papers for the government head clerk recruitment exam held on December 12 were leaked.

Minister of State (MoS) for Home, Harsh Sanghvi, said that an FIR has been registered in Sabarkantha district in north Gujarat and the police have arrested six suspects out of 10 persons supposedly involved in the paper leak.

Aam Aadmi Party's (AAP) Gujarat youth wing president Yuvrajsinh Jadeja had on Tuesday alleged that question papers were leaked from Sabarkantha district and had even shared photographs supporting the allegations.

Initially, the government had denied the allegations, but following public outcry, it ordered a probe.

"Following reports in press and social media and based on our inquiry, we have registered an FIR at Prantij police station in Sabarkantha district against 10 persons, six of whom have been arrested," Sanghvi told reporters in Gandhinagar.

The six arrested persons are Mahesh K. Patel from Ahmedabad, Chintan P Patel from Prantij, and Dhruv B. Barot, Darsh K Vyas, Suresh Patel and Kuldip N Patel, all from Sabarkantha. But the kingpins of this scam are believed to be Jayesh Patel, Mahendra Patel, Satish Patel and Jaswant Patel, who are yet to be nabbed.

The scam unearthed by the AAP leader has shaken the spirit of 88,000 candidates who appeared for the recruitment examination for 186 posts. The big question now is the status of the exams.

"The decision on whether to hold fresh exams will be taken by the Gujarat Subordinate Service Selection Board (GSSB). As of now, the focus is on solving the case," Sanghavi added.

Till Friday, Gujarat Secondary Service Selection Board (GSSSB) chairperson Asit Vora had been repeatedly denying the paper leak. He constantly maintained that the exams held in Gandhinagar, Ahmedabad, Vadodara, Rajkot, Surat and Jamnagar districts were 'completely' transparent and the board did not receive any complaint.

"We appreciate the action by Sanghavi and the police, but we still don't trust Asit Vora. Earlier also, Vora was entrusted with probe into exam paper leak scams, but nothing happened. Despite providing him with all the necessary evidence and submitting our complaint to him, he told the media that he has not received a single complaint. We think that a probe should be initiated against him as a suspect," AAP leader Jadeja told reporters on Friday.

"We are asking the Gujarat government to at least remove him from the probe if not from his position. We have more proofs and will provide more, but we don't trust the GSSSB. We want to provide evidence only to Sanghavi and no one else. We are also demanding an SIT to be formed to find out the truth behind this paper leak," added Jadeja.