Cops try to find out if arrested men have links with other gangs

Noida: After the arrest of 10 people who were allegedly involved in leaking question papers and providing trained writers to appear in place of candidates for competitive exams, Haryana and Noida police are working together to look for any connection they might have with similar gangs. Haryana STF had recently arrested some people involved in a similar racket and the gang members allegedly hacked computers and offered answers to exam questions in exchange for money. It was found that the gang members had been solving papers of various online and offline exams, including those conducted by the SSC, Indian Railways, NEET and IIT.
The arrested men are from Haryana’s Sonipat and Jind and Rajasthan’s Jaipur and Panawala.
On Tuesday, Haryana Police contacted their counterparts in Noida to get details about those arrested on Monday. “Haryana Police contacted us. We have also asked them to help us with any links that might come to light,” a police officer involved in the investigations told TOI.
According to the police, the centre of operation of those arrested on Monday is Haryana. A police team has been sent to the state to check if the Haryana Constable GD question paper found in the accused men’s phone matched the actual one. Sector 58 SHO Vinod Kumar said a model question paper has been recovered from one of the men. “We are verifying the document,” he said.
Additional DCP (Noida) Ranvijay Singh said their probe will focus on where the accused sourced question papers from and how many “solvers” have been sent against real candidates. “So far, about four other names have come up,” he said.
The SHO said WhatsApp chats recovered from the mobile phones of the arrested men, Umesh, Satnam and Lakhan, were about leaking question papers of government exams. “The discussions revolved around where and to whom they would sell the papers to,” he added. He said one of the gang members who is yet to be arrested is a former Merchant Navy officer.
“We are getting more details. It seems that some people were removed from their jobs during the lockdown and they started getting involved in illegal activities,” he said. The cops will approach the court to get hold of mobile phones belonging to some of the accused, which will then be sent to the surveillance unit.