Rajasthan Police SOG Makes Key Arrest in CHO Recruitment Exam Paper Leak Case
In a significant development, the Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police has apprehended a suspect connected to the notorious Community Health Officer (CHO) recruitment examination paper leak case. The arrest was carried out on Wednesday, marking a crucial step in the ongoing investigation into the widespread examination malpractice that compromised the integrity of the state's recruitment process.
Accused Identified and Arrest Details
Additional Director General (SOG) Vishal Bansal confirmed the arrest and identified the accused as Ganpat Lal Malwada, a 31-year-old resident of Malwada village in Chitalwana tehsil of Jalore district. The arrest was executed based on a case registered at the SOG police station under multiple legal provisions, including sections related to cheating and criminal conspiracy, as well as the stringent Rajasthan Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act.
Details of the CHO Recruitment Examination Leak
The compromised examination, identified as the CHO Recruitment Examination-2020, was conducted by the Rajasthan state health department on November 10, 2020. According to official statements, the examination was systematically undermined by an organized criminal gang that orchestrated a sophisticated paper leak operation.
Investigators revealed that the question paper was illicitly accessed from sealed packets stored in a strong room at Jagriti Vidya Mandir Senior Secondary School in Jhotwara. This unauthorized access violated established security protocols and enabled the gang to obtain the paper approximately two hours before the scheduled examination time.
Modus Operandi of the Organized Gang
The criminal network executed a multi-stage operation to exploit the leaked paper:
- Illegally accessing the sealed question papers from the secure storage facility
- Obtaining the paper nearly 120 minutes prior to the examination commencement
- Engaging a specialized solver team to complete the examination paper
- Distributing the solved answers to candidates at multiple locations before the official examination time
Role of the Arrested Accused and Broader Connections
Police officials stated that Ganpat Lal Malwada played a specific role in facilitating the examination malpractice by assisting co-accused Bhupendra Saran in arranging candidates who would benefit from the leaked paper. Furthermore, investigators have uncovered that Malwada has connections to other significant recruitment examination leaks in Rajasthan, including:
- The JEN Recruitment Examination-2020
- The First Grade Lecturer Recruitment-2022
This suggests a pattern of involvement in multiple examination fraud cases across different recruitment processes in the state.
Previous Arrests and Ongoing Investigation
Prior to Malwada's arrest, authorities had already apprehended 20 individuals in connection with the CHO recruitment exam paper leak case. Among those previously arrested was school operator Dheeraj Sharma, along with several other key suspects involved in the orchestrated leak.
The Rajasthan Police SOG has emphasized that the investigation remains active and comprehensive, with further inquiries underway to identify all individuals involved in the criminal network and to dismantle the entire operation responsible for compromising multiple recruitment examinations.
