Clerk exam leak: six including school principal arrested

Six persons including the principal and administrators of a school here were arrested on Wednesday in connection with the clerk exam paper leak, the police said. The state government on December 16 canceled the exam conducted on November 17 by the Gujarat Subordinate Service Selection Board (GSSSB), stating that the question paper had been leaked.

Inspector General of Police Mayanksinh Chavda said that Vijaysinh Vaghela, principal of MS School was suspected to be involved in removing a question paper from a bundle by breaking the seal. Prime accused Pravindan Gadhvi yet to be arrested and another accused clicked its photographs before inserting it back in the bundle, he said.

The school was one of the exam centres. Apart from Vaghela, those who were arrested were identified as Mohammad Farooq Abdul Qureshi, Fakhruddin, Deepak Joshi, Lakhvinder Singh and Rambhai Gadhvi. They were booked under IPC sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and sections of the Information Technology Act, Chavda said.

Lakhvinder Singh is a member of the Congress, the police officer said, adding another accused is a relative of Congress corporator Shahzad Khan Pathan, who was recently arrested after a protest against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act turned violent in Shah-E-Alam area here.

"We have exposed the scandal in one school. We have formed six teams and expect more arrests," the IG said.

The exam, conducted for recruiting 3,910 non- secretariat clerks and office assistants, was marred by controversy, with the opposition Congress alleging large-scale irregularities including paper leaks.