JAIPUR: Over 600 suspects from three districts of Rajasthan are on the radar of the Special Operations Group probing the REET paper leak case. In September last year, about 16 lakh candidates had appeared in the exam for the recruitment of 30,000 teachers in government schools. The REET paper, leaked from Jaipur, had reached Jalore, Barmer, and Jodhpur. The SOG has made a list of those who traded the paper in the three districts and detained 36 people from Dhorimanna, Gudamalani, Sevada and Sanchore areas in these districts.
SOG sources said these 600 suspects include candidates, their close relatives and middlemen. Many accused have fled Jalore and Barmer, they said. The SOG has already arrested the E-Mitra operator from Jalore and more arrests are likely in the coming days. Additional Director General of SOG Ashok Rathore has been camping in these districts.
As layers of rigging unravel in the REET 2021 exam, questions are being raised on the role of the Education Department in this exam. SOG’s investigation was focused on the Board of Secondary Education Ajmer, but gradually teachers and officers associated with the Directorate of Secondary Education came under the scanner. Many teachers have been arrested or are under investigation with many of them being suspended. The SOG is now preparing to confiscate the properties of the absconding accused, sources said.
It is believed that most REET papers had reached the three districts. Therefore, the focus is on the examinees of Jalore, Barmer and Jodhpur. There can also be cancellation of the exam in these three districts.Sources said SOG will soon submit the full report of the REET paper leak case to the government, recommending the cancellation of the paper in the three districts.
Meanwhile, posters about the disappearance of DP Jarauli, former chairman of the Board of Secondary Education, came up in the Shiksha Sankul complex of Jaipur. These posters announce a cash prize of `11 lakh to anyone who could help locate Jaroli. Rajasthan Unemployed Federation officials said Jaroli “disappeared” soon after the SOG began its investigation.