Rajasthan Police SOG says the JE exam paper was leaked again during the September 2021 re-test.
A PWD assistant engineer who secured a high rank has been arrested in connection with the case.
SOG has initiated proceedings to cancel the accused’s appointment and promotion.
The Rajasthan Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG) has concluded that the question paper for the Junior Engineer (JE) Combined Recruitment Examination-2020 was leaked not only during the original test but also in the re-examination held in September 2021, leading to the arrest of a serving assistant engineer, officials said on Thursday.
According to PTI, the original JE examination conducted in December 2020 had been cancelled after the question paper was found to have been leaked. The latest findings indicate that the breach continued even during the re-test held nearly nine months later.
Additional Director General of Police (SOG) Vishal Bansal said an assistant engineer working with the Public Works Department (PWD) has been arrested in connection with the case. PTI reported that the accused has been identified as Ganpat Lal Bishnoi.
Officials said Bishnoi allegedly secured the 12th rank in the merit list by using the leaked question paper. At the time of his arrest, he was posted as an assistant engineer in Barmer district and had also been granted a promotion, according to PTI.
Bansal said that during the investigation into the December 2020 paper-leak case, the SOG noticed a pattern that raised suspicion. Several candidates who had appeared in the cancelled examination also cleared the re-test conducted on September 12, 2021. During questioning, some of the accused reportedly admitted that the question paper for the re-examination had also been leaked prior to the test.
Following these disclosures, the SOG registered a fresh case on January 19. The subsequent probe revealed that the question paper was circulated among candidates shortly before the examination with the help of associates, officials said.
Bishnoi’s role emerged as a key finding during the investigation. He allegedly procured the question paper illegally, appeared in the examination and obtained a high rank in the final merit list, Bansal said.
The SOG has initiated legal proceedings to seek cancellation of Bishnoi’s appointment and the promotion he received, the officer added.
(with inputs from PTI)
