Haryana Constable Recruitment: 35 held for paper leak, Haryana Assembly told

Thirty-five people have been arrested so far in connection with the police constable recruitment paper leak case, Haryana Education Minister Kanwar Pal told the state Assembly here on Tuesday. Seven criminal cases were registered in this regard. Two of the cases were lodged in Kaithal, one case each in Fatehabad and Hisar and three in Karnal.

Police have arrested 35 persons in this regard and the matter is being thoroughly investigated, the minister said replying to a calling attention motion moved by the Congress.

Amid reports of the paper leak, the Haryana Staff Selection Commission (HSSC) had earlier this month cancelled the written examination for the recruitment of police constables. Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar, while disclosing the connection of the case to Jammu, one of the states where the paper was printed, said the main accused who had leaked the paper from there through a pen drive has been arrested.

The accused had sold the pen drive in Rs 5 lakh which later was further sold for Rs 1 crore in Haryana, he said.

Khattar said Rakesh Kumar, a resident of Jammu, has been arrested in this case. He is a technical manager in a company.

Rakesh Kumar had allegedly leaked the paper a week before the examination date. Rakesh Kumar gave this paper to data entry operator Jitender Kumar, Khattar further said.

Former Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda reiterated his party's demand for a CBI probe into what he called a series of paper leak cases.

Khattar, however, said the state police is capable of investigation and is doing a good job.

He said if it fails to reach to the roots of the matter, one may later contemplate handing over probe to a higher agency.

The Assembly, meanwhile, passed the Haryana Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Bill, 2021.

The Bill, which was tabled in the House on Monday, was withdrawn and was later introduced with some amendments suggested by Congress MLA Varun Chaudhary.

The Bill provided punishment up to 10 years for offences pertaining to paper leaks.

On the calling attention motion, Education Minister Kanwar Pal targeted the opposition over its claim that there have been 28 incidents of paper leak during the past six years, saying this is incorrect.

He said that only four recruitment exams were cancelled.

Referring to the law brought by the BJP-JJP government to curb unfair means in exams, Hooda said while such laws are needed but “why is the government refraining from taking action against those who leaked papers one after the other and carried out recruitment scams in the past”.

Hooda said when Home Minister Anil Vij has backed a CBI probe into paper leak cases, why is the government running away from it.

The issue also saw ruling and opposition benches having a verbal duel with the former attacking the previous Congress regime for allegedly indulging in favouritism in giving jobs and saying many of their recruitments had later come under the scanner of courts.