The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) filed two chargesheets in a competent court at Shimla on Monday against 88 accused in an ongoing investigation into cases related to the leakage of question papers of the HP Police Constable Recruitment Exam 2022 held on March 27, 2022.

The CBI had taken over the investigation of the two cases registered by HP Police on May 5, 2022, of Police Station Gaggal and May 7, 2022, of Police Station CID, Shimla, after notification issued by the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), Government of India, on the request of the HP government for investigating allegations of leakage or irregularities in the HP Police Constable Recruitment Exam 2022.

After a thorough investigation, two chargesheets were filed. The investigation has revealed that two accused (residents of Bihar) entered into a conspiracy with other accused persons to steal or misappropriate the questions paper of the Himachal Pradesh Police Constable Recruitment Exam and through various middlemen provided the said paper to candidates for money ranging from approximately Rs 3 lakh to Rs 5 lakh at Mandi, Kangra, Chandigarh, Panchkula, Zirakpur, Mohali.

It also revealed that approximately Rs 1.25 crore was routed between the accounts of accused persons during the relevant period. The investigation disclosed the nexus of organised groups based in Bihar, UP, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Delhi, and Haryana, in the leakage of exam papers.

The CBI found connivance of the persons running various private institutes at Nalanda (Bihar), Kangra (HP), Rohtak (Haryana), Delhi and Jammu. They have been chargesheeted and the names of the institutes are being forwarded to NTA (National Testing Agency) for suitable action as their role also came on record during the investigation.

The role of the public servants belonging to Indian Railways, Education Department, HP, then JE and JOA (Electricity Board) of HP, then Constable of Chandigarh Police, then officials of Delhi Government, an ex-serviceman and then official of Defence Accounts and Audit, also surfaced during the CBI probe.

Furthermore, the CBI recommended a departmental action against then-police officials of Himachal Pradesh Police for alleged lapses or negligence on their part, which came on record during the investigation.