Dehradun: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) may soon begin a probe in to the Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission paper leak case, according to a senior official.
This comes after the Uttarakhand STF sent a report of all the accused to the ED, following the disclosure of the unaccounted assets believed to be held by them.
SSP Ajay Singh, SSP, Uttarakhand STF said that during the investigation, it had come to the fore that the question papers were sold to the candidates for amounts ranging from Rs 15 to 20 lakhs. So, there is a possibility of crores of rupees having been illegally collected. So far, Rs 83 lakh has even been recovered.
Feeling that a much more detailed probe was needed, the SSP said that a list of properties of the accused has been sent to the ED. The facts based on the FIR and the report of the investigation so far, have also been shared with the ED. The senior police official said that 15 witnesses had so far given their statements in the case.
The case pertains to a written exam conducted by the Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UKSSC) in December 2021. This was one of the major examinations conducted by the commission for 854 posts across 13 departments.
However, there were widespread allegations that there were irregularities in the conduct of the test. Following these allegations, Uttarakhand CM Pushkar Singh Dhami called for a probe and a strict action against those guilty. Following this, the secretary of the commission was removed from the post. A Special Task Force (STF) was also constituted to investigate the alleged irregularities.
Initially, the Dehradun police registered a case against the unidentified accused. After that, the Police Headquarters (PHQ) handed over the investigation to the STF.
Since then, 18 people have been arrested so far in the case. These include some prominent names like district panchayat member Hakam Singh. Singh was arrested near the Mori area near the Himachal Pradesh border after he returned to the country from a trip abroad on August 7.
Gaurav Chauhan, an Additional Private Secretary working in Public Works and Forest Department of State Secretariat, was also arrested in connection with the case. Also, several officials and directors of a Lucknow-based printing press were called for questioning. This came after a staffer of the company was named a prime accused in the case post-arrest. —ANI