CBI begins probe in U’khand paper leak 28 days after CM Dhami’s announcement

The CBI has finally registered a case and begun a probe in the Uttarakhand Subordinate Services examination paper leak matter more than 28 days after the Dhami government announced it on September 29.

The main accused, Khalid; his sister, Sabia; their friend, Suman; and another woman, Heena, have been named in the CBI case registered late Monday night under the anti-copying law of Uttarakhand.

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The CBI filed the case at its Dehradun Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) branch under the Anti-Copying Law enacted by the Pushkar Singh Dhami government after its return in 2022. According to the CBI investigation, the case has been handed over to Assistant Superintendent of Police Rajiv Chandola.

The graduate-level recruitment examination conducted by the Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission (UKSSSC) on September 21 had shaken the Dhami government, as its paper was leaked by the main accused, Khalid, from one of the examination centres in Haridwar. This led to massive protests by the youths and students against the Dhami government across the state.

The protest that started a day after the examination went on incessantly till September 29, when the chief minister himself visited protesters and assured them that he would fulfill their demand for a CBI probe. Dhami’s direct intervention was necessitated as informal bureaucratic channels opened by his close officials to deal with protesters failed to yield any results. Several rounds of talks between protesting youths and Dhami’s officers were held, but no solution could be arrived at for several days.

At the same time, the Dehradun and Haridwar police had also begun their investigation at the request of UKSSSC. Khalid and Sabia were arrested before the Dhami government constituted a single-member inquiry commission headed by retired High Court judge UC Dhyani. The Dhyani Commission, in its report, recommended the cancellation of the examination and the conducting of a fresh UKSSSC exam within three months.

Following the arrests of Khalid and Sabia, their friend Suman, a teacher who was sent leaked questions for solutions, was suspended by her employer’s college. Despite this, the youths remained adamant on their demand for a CBI investigation and the cancellation of the examination till it was accepted by none but the chief minister himself.