DEHRADUN: In a swift pre-emptive action, Uttarakhand Police have once again arrested the leader of a notorious exam cheating racket, Hakam Singh, and his accomplice, Pankaj Gaur, just a day before a crucial written exam for graduate-level posts by the Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission (UKSSSC).
The duo was arrested in Dehradun on Saturday, accused of attempting to defraud six aspiring candidates by promising them guaranteed success in the upcoming exam for a hefty sum ranging from Rs 12 to Rs 15 lakh each.
The breakthrough came after a joint operation by the Dehradun Police and the Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF), which had been maintaining a vigilant watch on suspicious persons.
Dehradun SSP Ajay Singh revealed, "Given the likelihood of anti-social elements becoming active during the UKSSSC examination and luring candidates, both the Dehradun Police and Uttarakhand STF had pre-emptively placed suspected individuals under close scrutiny."
He added that confidential intelligence received two days prior indicated a syndicate was actively seeking large sums of money from candidates under false pretences of ensuring their success in the upcoming tests.
While the investigation into the broader implications of the racket continues, Uttarakhand STF SSP Navneet Bhullar unequivocally stated, "There is no doubt regarding the integrity and confidentiality of the upcoming examination being compromised in this particular case."
Elaborating on the accused's deceptive tactics, SSP Bhullar informed TNIE, "Interrogation of the arrested individuals revealed their intention to defraud candidates. If the examinees were to clear the tests on their own merit, the accused planned to keep the money. In cases where candidates failed, they intended to lure them further by promising to 'adjust' the funds for future examinations."
Hakam Singh is no stranger to such controversies. Known as Uttarakhand's most prolific orchestrator of paper leaks, he previously spent 13 months in jail before securing bail from the Supreme Court. His notorious activities, which first came to light around July 2022, had plunged the state's youth into despair, leaving countless bright aspirants feeling cheated and disillusioned.
His past misdeeds led to a cascade of cancellations, including the graduate-level recruitment exam held on December 5, 2021; the online Forest Inspector recruitment exam from July 16-21, 2021; and the Secretariat Guard recruitment exam on September 26, 2021.
As more layers of his network unravelled, subsequent exams for vehicle drivers, instructors, workshop instructors, fisheries inspectors, head constable police telecommunication, and police rankers were also annulled.
This time, however, Hakam Singh finds himself ensnared by the stringent provisions of the Uttarakhand Competitive Examination (Prevention and Measures for Unfair Means in Recruitment) Ordinance 2023. Unlike previous instances where legal loopholes offered some respite, this new law carries severe penalties: life imprisonment and fines up to Rs 10 crore for individuals and entities involved in organized cheating or paper leaks.
The legislation designates such offences as cognizable, non-bailable, and non-compoundable, applicable to individuals, exam centre management, coaching institutes, printing presses, and anyone associated with the examination process.
Hakam's past operations highlighted two distinct types of paper leaks: direct leaks from printing presses for offline exams and sophisticated breaches of online recruitment examinations. Notably, his successful leak of the online Forest Inspector exam, which saw over 83,000 candidates, prompted the UKSSSC to abandon online examination modes entirely. Since then, no recruitment examination has been conducted online.