REPEAT OFFENDERS, LOOPHOLES IN LAW — INSIDE INDIA’S MULTI-CRORE PAPER LEAK INDUSTRY
New Delhi: Jagdish Bishnoi alias ‘Guru’ began teaching the third grade at a government school in Rajasthan in March 2008. In July that year, he was booked for appearing in a constable recruitment exam as a ‘dummy candidate’.
Two years later, he was booked and arrested for ‘leaking’ question papers, but subsequently released on bail. Currently in judicial custody, Bishnoi was dismissed from government service in 2020 for his alleged involvement in 12 such cases.
Bishnoi, it is suspected, expanded his empire over the course of 13 years and engineered leaks of question papers of several high-profile exams, including one held in Rajasthan for recruitment of sub-inspectors in 2021 and another for junior engineers in 2022.
According to investigators, gangs like the one led by Bishnoi work in tandem with officials who set question papers and supervisors and superintendents posted at examination centres, besides printing presses and courier companies contracted to ferry the papers.
Coaching centres are also a key part of this well-oiled machinery.
Sources in Rajasthan Police’s Special Operations Group (SOG) told ThePrint that, not long after he lost his job, Bishnoi put his back into expanding his paper leak ‘business’ with help from his aide Bhupendra Saran who, too, has at least 11 cases of paper leaks to his name.
“Since his (Bishnoi) suspension in 2010, he went on to become a professional paper leak mafia who grew rapidly with the help of other similar elements,” said a Rajasthan Police officer who did not wish to be named.
Though Bishnoi is yet to be convicted in any of the cases against him, the likes of him have shown how one can evade the system for years on end despite being booked in multiple cases of paper leaks. ThePrint tracked 14 such cases pertaining to ‘paper leaks’ or compromise of integrity of various exams and found a pattern of suspected involvement of repeat offenders, who despite having served months in jail remained undeterred.
For instance, Ravi Attri, an MBBS degree holder, along with his associate Ravi Narain Mishra, a BTech graduate, have at least eight cases each of paper leaks against them in police stations across Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana.
The gang of Sanjeev Kumar, alias ‘Mukhiya’, is another example, with police suspecting its involvement in at least four cases of paper leak since October 2023. While Sanjeev Kumar’s involvement in the NEET UG 2024 ‘paper leak’ case has garnered attention, he was also found to be a “prime suspect” in leaks of question papers for recruitment exams for teachers and constables held in Bihar and Jharkhand.
It is largely because of these gangs that over time the concept of “cheating” has evolved into a multifaceted syndicate comprising characters well versed with loopholes in the system. But how did it get so far as to turn into a flourishing business?
Investigators said lack of direct evidence makes it tough for prosecutors to prove charges such as criminal conspiracy — section 120 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) — invoked against the accused, often along with sections 420 (cheating) and 406 (criminal breach of trust), besides relevant sections of the Information Technology (IT) Act.
“They manage to secure bail each time and every time they come out with greater impunity,” said one senior police officer from Uttar Pradesh.
Even in cases where the investigation is completed, stringent sections are imposed and it reaches the trial stage, the case lingers.
A prime example is the 1997 IIT-JEE paper leak. Nearly three decades since it came to light, the trial — in a lower court in Uttar Pradesh — is still at the witness examination stage. Accused were charged under the Official Secrets Act, along with sections of the IPC.
Convictions are also hard to come by in such cases owing to shoddy investigation by the police. In the 1997 case, for instance, court documents reveal how the defence for Lucknow-based Trivaag Coaching Centre, whose owners and faculty were among those accused, relied on a “crumbled” question paper seized from a dustbin in the institute 75 days after the conduct of the exam. Director of Trivaag, Rajesh Narain Verma, is an IITian.
In part 2 of this series, ThePrint looks at how paper leaks became a thriving industry, driven by gangs and habitual offenders who exploit loopholes in the law to perpetuate this illicit trade.
Also Read: Complicit officials, fragile supply chain, gangs on the lookout — anatomy of a paper leak
Money trail, ‘cut-throat competition’
The paper leaks industry first entered the national spotlight prominently in 1997 after authorities uncovered a conspiracy to compromise the integrity of the IIT-JEE examination held that year. But nearly three decades later, no one, from experts to investigators, is certain of the unit economics of the paper leak industry, though probes over the years have hinted that the market for leaked papers is worth thousands of crores.
Raj Teotia, who was arrested by Delhi Police Cyber Cell in 2022 for allegedly running an IIT-JEE and GMAT paper leak racket in connivance with Russian hackers, revealed that the gang raked in close to Rs 60 crore by selling question papers to 500 IIT-JEE candidates.
Further, a probe into the 2021 JEE Mains leak case revealed that the accused was paid approximately Rs 15 lakh each by as many as 820 aspirants.
“In these cases, money cannot be traced back to the source, so there is no absolute figure. However, investigations have revealed it is over Rs 1,000 crore, if not more. The more people involved, the more layers and money in the picture,” a second senior police officer from Uttar Pradesh said.
The Enforcement Directorate’s money laundering probe linked to the leak of Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) GK (Group C) competitive exam for senior teachers in December 2022 is a case in point. In this case, it was found that question papers were sold to each student for Rs 10 lakh, apart from commissions paid to key accused. Babu Lal Katara, a member of the RPSC, was allegedly paid Rs 60 lakh to leak the paper.
In the NEET UG 2024 ‘paper leak’ case that came to light in May this year, investigators suspect aspirants paid Rs 30 lakh for access to the question paper a night before the exam.
“Some paper leaks lead to public outrage and the exams being cancelled, but there are leaks happening at all levels, not all make it to the news,” said a police officer from Rajasthan who did not wish to be named. According to him, the ‘paper leak’ industry thrives also because of high demand for government jobs and “cut-throat competition”.
“It is simple economics of demand and supply. This industry will survive till there is this demand and the obsession with a secure government job.”
The ‘usual suspects’
Sanjeev Kumar, alias ‘Mukhiya’, has 12 criminal cases against him, among them five cases of paper leaks, including NEET UG 2024 ‘paper leak’ case. He is also wanted in connection with the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) paper leak case from January this year and two other cases from Bihar.
Along with his son Dr Shiv Kumar, an MBBS degree holder from the Patna Medical College and Hospital, Sanjeev Kumar allegedly conspired to leak the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) teachers’ recruitment exam question paper in March this year, the Bihar Police constable recruitment exam last October and the NEET UG 2017.
Bihar Police claim Sanjeev Kumar and his aides were responsible for three major paper leaks in the state in the past year. “It is not just the kingpin, but the entire chain of people in the gang are involved in multiple paper leaks,” said a senior officer of Bihar Police.
The name of one of Sanjeev Kumar’s aides, Shubham Mandal, also surfaced during the probe into the leak of the question paper for Uttar Pradesh Public Service Commission (UPPSC) recruitment examination for constables held earlier this year.
Ravi Attri, whose name surfaced in the NEET UG 2024 ‘paper leak’ case, was at one point referred to as the mastermind of the UPPSC exam paper leak.
More than 47 lakh aspirants had appeared for this examination to fill 60,000 vacancies in the Uttar Pradesh Police.
According to the UP Special Task Force (STF), Attri allegedly orchestrated the paper leak in February along with his aide Ravi Narain Mishra who was also an accused in the case.
Attri and Mishra also allegedly leaked the 2015 All India Pre-Medical Test (AIPMT) contractual nursing staff recruitment paper, for which they were booked by the Haryana Police. But each time they managed bail and returned to the business, police sources said.
“They were mostly charged for cheating and sections of the IT Act which are not enough to hold them in jail and disrupt their operation. They manage to secure bail each time,” a senior UP STF officer told ThePrint.
Attri had also been arrested for his alleged involvement in the 2012 AIPMT and 2015 AIIMS-PG question paper leaks. His link to the NEET UG 2024 ‘paper leak’ case surfaced after the Bihar Police’s Economic Offences Unit (EOU) uncovered his ties to Sanjeev Kumar.
Both Attri and Mishra are also accused of involvement in the leak of the question paper for the UP review officer/assistant review officer (preliminary) examination 2024, which, too, was cancelled in February. Mishra was at one point deemed the ‘kingpin’ of this racket.
According to sources in Madhya Pradesh Police, Mishra also allegedly leaked the National Health Mission (NHM) nursing staff recruitment exam question paper in February 2023.
He was arrested by the MP Police last March in the NHM paper leak. He was also accused in the 2021 UP Teachers Eligibility Test (UPTET) exam and arrested in both cases. The exam was cancelled after the question paper went viral on WhatsApp and social media.
Similarly, Teotia, a native of Palwal in Haryana, was arrested by Delhi Police in January 2022. He was wanted by the Intelligence Fusion Strategic Operations Unit (IFSO) and carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh on his head.
Apart from four cases against him with the Haryana Police for orchestrating paper leaks, Teotia was also wanted by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in connection with the 2021 IIT JEE paper leak. The gang allegedly hired a Russian hacker to tamper with the platform on which the exam was being held.
According to police sources, Teotia had been running these scams for several years, starting from 2017. Among the exams he is said to have compromised are GMAT, JEE, TOEFL and IELTS, besides certification exams for Cisco and IBM and even entrance exams for the armed forces.
For GMAT, the gang allegedly charged each aspirant around Rs 6 to 8 lakh. The total amount collected by the gang for aspirants appearing for GMAT exams ranged between Rs 50-60 lakh, according to sources in Delhi Police. After Teotia’s arrest, the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), which officially administers GMAT, cancelled the scores of over 100 students and also barred them from taking the exam in the future.
Vinay Dahiya, whom the CBI referred to as the ‘mastermind’ behind the 2021 IIT JEE paper leak case, runs a consultancy firm in Delhi. He and his associate were arrested in January this year for trying to loot candidates appearing for the Foreign Medical Graduate Examination (FMGE) by giving them fake question papers. The matter came to light after a ruckus took place at the farmhouse where Dahiya called around 40 students and tried to sell each a paper for Rs 20 lakh. The accused had even taken Rs 4-6 lakh in advance.
The FMGE allows doctors with a degree from abroad to practise in India. It is conducted by the National Board of Examinations (NBE), an autonomous body under the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Dahiya was arrested by the CBI in March last year for allegedly leaking the 2021 JEE Mains examination paper and made bail. The accused, including Dahiya, were booked under IPC sections 420 (cheating), 120 B (criminal conspiracy), and section 66D (whoever, by means of any communication device or computer resource cheats by personation) of the IT Act.
Dahiya also has two other paper leak cases registered against him in Uttar Pradesh.
Paper leak laws: Old & new
According to provisions of the IPC, accusations involving paper leaks and candidate impersonation generally attract sections 420 (cheating) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy), which investigators said do not hold much ground when opposing a bail plea in court.
They added that direct and primary evidence is very thin in these cases and most witnesses are not ready to depose before the court, which is why the investigation is mainly undertaken through either documents or money trail or technical surveillance.
An Additional Advocate General in Rajasthan, Bhuwnesh Sharma, said since punishment under section 420 of the IPC was seven years, bail conditions were easier and the accused was able to get bail from the police station.
The solution, Sharma said, was laws like the one in Rajasthan that provides for a maximum punishment of life imprisonment for a person found guilty of involvement in a paper leak.
Additionally the law now allows for the confiscation of properties which are viewed by the investigation agency as “proceeds of crime”. Sharma added that the provision of attachment of properties and a maximum sentence of lifetime imprisonment should at least work as a deterrent to youth getting involved in this organised criminal operation.
Under the ambit of the law, police officers said these syndicates should be treated as organised gangs. “As soon as you can establish that a particular accused is related to a gang, you don’t have to go into the scope of his crime and antecedents. This law should come in handy to crack down on these elements by proving them as part of organised gangs,” said a police officer from Bihar.
Recently, the Uttar Pradesh government passed a proposal for the promulgation of an ordinance with similar provisions, such as life imprisonment, but making it more stringent by making offences cognizable, non-bailable, non-compoundable, and triable by sessions courts. The proposed ordinance is awaiting approval from the governor.
In the wake of the furore over irregularities and allegations pertaining to the NEET UG 2024 and UGC-NET exams, the central government on 21 June notified The Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, that provides the legal framework for punishment, for unfair means and organised acts, across the country. A Bihar Police officer privy to the investigation in this case said that under the new law, prosecuting agencies have merely to prove that the accused is part of an organised gang to secure conviction for 10 years.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
2024-07-04T06:52:43Z dg43tfdfdgfd