Police zero in on kingpin of constable paper leak case

 Ambika Sharma

Solan, May 25

In a major lead in the Himachal Pradesh constable paper leak case, the Solan police have zeroed in on a Chittorgarh-based income tax assistant, Sandeep Tailor, believed to be the kingpin of the paper leak scam in Solan district.

Tailor is a resident of 45, Shanti Nagar, Industrial Area, Sikar.  He is working as a Tax Assistant, Group-C at Chittorgarh, Rajasthan.

A special investigation team (SIT) of the Arki police has been camping in Rajasthan to arrest Tailor, who had received Rs 3 lakh from seven candidates of Solan and Arki through two middlemen, Virender and Devraj, alias Pinku.  The duo were arrested by the SIT earlier on May 21 and they had received Rs 50,000 for their services from Sandeep.

Virender (29) hails from Simlta village while Pinku (27) hails from Patta village. They were arrested for cheating, criminal conspiracy and for causing disappearance of evidence for a case registered by the Arki police on April 17 after a 3.37 minute video chat had gone viral where candidates had discussed the nitty-gritty of obtaining the leaked question paper in exchange of money.

Investigations also revealed that as much as 80 to 90 per cent payment was made through online mode to Sandeep Tailor by the duo while remaining amount was given through cash.  

Tailor’s wife Rinki Purva works as a trained graduate teacher (TGT) at Government Senior Secondary School, Sangliya, in Sikar district of Rajasthan. Some cash was deposited in her bank account and she too has become an accomplice in the case.

As many as 14 mobiles and three vehicle have been seized by the Solan police in this case till now from the arrested accused.

Virender and Pinku ran a small scale industry at Ganahatti in Shimla manufacturing disposable cups and plates. Pinku was known to Tailor since 2017-18 as both had worked at BSNL in Shimla where Pinku was a temporary employee. Tailor has later joined the Income Tax Department in Rajasthan.

The special investigation team is yet to probe how the cell numbers of candidates had reached the paper leak gang. Since they were solely in the custody of the recruitment board constituted by the police, it was intriguing to note that candidates had started receiving calls from the agents as early as December 2021 when the physical standard exam was underway.