UP SI Scam 2021: Candidates demand CBI probe into discrepancies; the story so far

NEW DELHI: Amid the UP police constable and RO/ARO paper leak allegations, a large section of candidates have started demanding CBI investigation into the Uttar Pradesh sub-inspector recruitment scam that happened in 2021. Several candidates have taken to social media demanding justice and questioned why the Uttar Pradesh government has not investigated the matter yet.

The Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment and Promotion Board (UPPRPB) held the sub-inspector recruitment exam for 9,534 posts in November 2021. Vivek Kumar, a teacher, was one of the first people to report on the cheating cases to the state police department. He claimed that thousands of candidates who cleared in the UP SI recruitment exam 2021 by cheating are undergoing training now and alleged that it was the biggest recruitment scam worth Rs 500 crore.

Recently, a Special Operations Group (SOG) detained 15 trainee sub-inspectors, including the one who topped the Rajasthan Police recruitment exam 2021, for allegedly using the leaked paper and dummy candidates to clear the exam. Citing the recent development, whistle-blower Vivek Kumar asked “if Rajasthan government can investigate then why not Uttar Pradesh government”. #UP_SI_2021_Scam, #UPSI_SCAM9534, #UPSI_NEEDS_CBI_INVESTIGATION, #UPSI_2021_CBI_INVESTIGATION is trending now on X.

#UP_SI_2021_Scam

The UPPRPB held the UP sub-inspector recruitment exam from November 21 and December 2 in 2021 to fill 9,534 posts. The UPSI exam was held in computer-based mode due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 8 lakh candidates appeared in the exam.

Soon after the answer key was published, there were X (formerly Twitter) campaigns demanding the UP police recruitment board to look into the matter as several candidates “who lacked the aptitude to write the exam” had scored 159 marks out of 160.

Initially, over 40 candidates were arrested for using unfair means in the recruitment exam. However, after the results were declared on April 21, it was found that the scam had happened on a large scale and several candidates cleared the exam by cheating, impersonation and paper leak among other unfair means. The investigation was closed after the department arrested over 150 people. Rs 15-25 lakh were reportedly taken from candidates by the solver gang for copying.

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UP SI Paper Leak: What we know so far

It was found that several candidates who scored highest or full marks in the UP SI exam 2021 had completed the exam in minutes. The accused used Virtual Network Computing (VNC), a screen sharing system that was created to remotely control another computer, to attempt the exam.

The state police detained the candidates after checking their Candidate Response Log (CRS). The police said that these candidates had managed to download an application on their examination terminals, which gave the UP SI answers in the last 15 minutes of the exam. This allowed them to finish the exam in minutes, the CNBCTV18 reported.

Over 300 people have been named in it, including more than 30 centre managers from different cities, more than 200 fake candidates, more than 50 solver gang members, cheating mafia, and more than 10 officers and employees of NSEIT companies, Vivek Kumar said.

More than 70 FIRs have been registered so far, however, there is no answer on who gave the contract to the blacklisted company and why a special team was not formed to look into the discrepancies at large.

Notably, the recruitment board had not announced the marks of the all candidates or the topper. Vivek Kumar said “no satisfactory answer” was obtained through RTI regarding the marks secured in the recruitment exams.