In a breakthrough in the Himachal Pradesh police recruitment paper leak case, an accused arrested from Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh is said to have minted millions by leaking question papers of examinations in various states including Delhi, Punjab, UP, and Andhra Pradesh before the case in the state.

As per the investigations, the accused, identified as Shiv Bahadur, was allegedly part of an organised racket that used to operate in Delhi, Hyderabad, Uttar Pradesh and Punjab where they had leaked papers of various recruitment examinations.

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Since most of the public examinations are held on Sundays, the modus-operandi employed by the paper leak gang included getting a schedule of public examinations to be held all over the country before procuring question papers through their organised crime networks and identifying potential candidates who could buy these through a network of coaching classes and agents.

The accused used to frequently change their phone and mobile numbers to avoid detection and arrest. In case of arrest, they would stay in police and judicial custody waiting for their release. Once out on, they would resort to the crime all over again.

The racket had earlier leaked JBT/TGT exam, Senior Assistant, SDO in Municipal Corporation, Inspector Grade 1, JE exam in PUDA, SDO exam in Irrigation department, all in Punjab, Railway Group D exam in UP and Medical Entrance Exam in Hyderabad in Andhra Pradesh. He had been arrested by the police in these states, but soon after being released, he used to get himself involved in such scams.

A police official said that what is emerging is that paper leak scam all over the country is an organised crime and the kingpins use laptops, computers, mobiles, artificial intelligence, and other technologies in this crime.

HP Director General of Police Sanjay Kundu had contacted with DGPs of Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Haryana, Bihar, and Commissioner of Police Delhi for assistance in the arrest of kingpins from their respective states. He said the cops are hopeful of arresting more kingpins involved in the racket soon.

A CBI probe has been ordered into the case, the SIT is getting its paperwork ready to hand over the case to a Central agency when they arrive to take over the investigation and is also carrying forward the probe into the case till that time, he added.