Two days after the Junior Clerk Exam paper leak, it has now come to light that the primary breach at the Hyderabad printing press used the “underwear route.” Added, when sleuths of the ATS raided the tipped-off premises in Vadodara, nearly 40 aspirants were awaiting the “consignment.”
Stackwise Technology in Vadodara, the agency hired for printing the papers, was host to the eager candidates and key accused Bhaskar Choudhary was to hand over the paper and its answer key to those waiting. All this for a hefty sum of Rs 13 lakh from each candidate. Choudhary was arrested on the spot along with his aides Ketan Barot, Raju Barot, Aniket Barot and Hardik Sharma.
Addressing a press conference, Superintendent of Police (SP) of Gujarat ATS, Sunil Joshi, briefed that 16 persons have so far been arrested. This includes 15 from Vadodara and one from Hyderabad. Seven of the 16 accused are part of a gang from Bihar.
“The state ATS nabbed all 15 accused from Stackwise around 1.30 am on Sunday. The question paper recovered from them matched with the original paper, prompting the government to immediately decide on postponing the exam,” he said.
Working on a tip-off that a man from Odisha, identified as Pradip Nayak, was going to deliver the question paper to Ketan Barot and Bhaskar Chaudhary in Vadodara city, the ATS formed a special team involving personnel from the Surat crime branch and Vadodara
It is now learnt that Nayak got the exam paper leaked from K.L. High Tech Printing Press in Hyderabad through distant relative, Jeet Naik, who works at the press. It is now also learnt that Jeet managed to sneak out the exam paper by hiding it in his underwear. “One team is in Hyderabad to probe how he stole the paper despite security and if he got help of others,” the official said.
Later, through Murrari Paswan, he contacted Bhaskar Choudhary of Stackwise Technology in Vadodara and asked him to sell the paper through his agents Ketan, Raju, Aniket and Hardik.
An ATS official added that Pradip and his wife arrived in Vadodara on Friday and stayed at a hotel. “On Saturday night, reached Stackwise office where Bhaskar and his agents had assembled about 40 candidates. A deal was struck with the candidates that each would pay Rs 13 lakh for the question paper and its answer key,” he shared.
All 16 accused were presented in a Vadodara court on Monday. Cops sought 14-day remand but were granted 10-day custody by the court.
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