Amid the controversy over the alleged paper leak in the NEET medical entrance exam, a police investigation has exposed an extensive conspiracy behind another leaked exam.
The qualifying exams for the post of Review Officer/Assistant Review Officer (RO/ARO) in Uttar Pradesh, held on February 11, were cancelled following allegations of a paper leak.
Not just negligence of invigilator
Initially, authorities, including Ghazipur District Magistrate Aryaka Akhauri, denied the claims, attributing the incident to the negligence of a center invigilator. However, four months later, a detailed investigation revealed a meticulously planned scheme that began at a printing press in Bhopal, 950 kilometers away.
More than 10 lakh students had appeared for the now-cancelled examination. The investigation uncovered that the paper leak occurred at Bishop Johnson Girl’s High School and College in Prayagraj, with a subsequent leak from the printing press.
Masterminds of the paper leak
The masterminds behind the leak were four engineers: Rajiv Nayan Mishra, Sunil Raghuvanshi, Vishal Dubey, and Subhash Prakash. On the morning of the exam, Arpit Vineet Yashwant, who was overseeing the examination, took pictures of the question paper at 6.30 am. He, along with four others, has been arrested.
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The initial leak happened at the Bhopal printing press where the exam paper was printed. Rajiv Nayan Mishra plotted the scheme with the help of Sunil Raghuvanshi, an employee at the printing press, and fellow engineers Vishal Dubey and Subhash Prakash. Mishra and Raghuvanshi were introduced by Dubey, who studied with Raghuvanshi in engineering college.
Raghuvanshi, working at the printing press, informed Mishra when the RO/ARO question papers arrived. He demanded Rs 10 lakh in exchange for the papers but insisted that the candidates memorize the content in front of him to prevent it from going viral. Mishra and his accomplices agreed to the terms.
In garb of machine repairs
On February 3, while at the printing press for machine repairs, Raghuvanshi smuggled the papers out, pretending to take them for fixing. The group then arranged for candidates to view the papers at Hotel Komal three days before the exam, charging Rs 12 lakh each.
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At the hotel, Subhash Prakash, along with a helper, solved the papers, and the candidates memorized the answers. Two agents, Vivek Upadhyay and Amarjeet Sharma, brought the candidates to the hotel.
Vivek was from Uttar Pradesh, and Amarjeet from Bihar, acting as intermediaries for the candidates. Subhash Prakash, who was also a candidate for the exam, had identical question papers on his phone to those circulating on social media.
How did leaked paper go viral
Greedy for more money, Rajiv Nayan Mishra shared images of the question paper with Ravi Attri, the mastermind behind a previous UP Police constable exam paper leak. This action caused the paper to go viral on social media. Rajiv Mishra had a history of involvement in other crimes, with his girlfriend Shivani managing the money transactions for their operations.
Six individuals have been arrested as the investigation continues.
In a related incident, a similar scheme was orchestrated by Rajiv Mishra and Ravi Attri to leak the UP Police Constable exam, which took place shortly after the RO/ARO exam. An employee of the transportation company and a safe-breaking expert from Bihar assisted in the operation. Both Mishra and Attri are currently in Meerut Jail. The UP Police Constable exam, which saw more than 47 lakh aspirants competing for 60,000 job vacancies, was also cancelled following paper leak allegations.
