Man with ₹1 lakh bounty held in 2023 constable exam paper leak case in Bihar

Raj, a native of Karpi in Arwal district, used to collect money from aspirants, provide monetary finance to mafias, and was also involved in money transfers to other syndicate members: Police

Patna: A 35-year-old man carrying a reward of ₹1 lakh on his head was arrested by the Economic Offences Unit (EoU) of Bihar Police on Saturday for his alleged involvement in the 2023 constable recruitment exam paper leak case.

Rajkishore Kumar Shah, a native of Karpi in Arwal district, was wanted for the 2023 constable paper leak case. (Representative photo)

“Rajkishore Kumar Shah, one of the masterminds behind the constable paper leak case, is a close associate of Sanjeev Singh alias Lutan Mukhia, who is the mastermind behind the leak of question papers of a number of competitive exams, including that of the National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (Undergraduate) or NEET-UG,” a police officer said.

“Raj, a native of Karpi in Arwal district, was wanted for the 2023 constable paper leak case. He used to collect money from the aspirants, provide monetary finance to the mafias, and was also involved in money transfers to other syndicate members,” Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) of EoU Manavjeet Singh Dhillon said.

The EoU team recovered cell phones, admit cards, and detailed lists of aspirants including names, districts, roll numbers, exam dates, booklet numbers, and other details, which were used to help aspirants during their competitive exams such as the upcoming Central Teacher Eligibility Test (CTET), electricity department recruitment test, and constable exams.

The Bihar constable recruitment examination was conducted by the Central Selection Board of Constables (CSBC) in October 2023, and the paper was scheduled on October 1, 7, and 15 due to the large number of candidates—over 1.8 million had applied for 21,391 vacancies. However, on the very first day, the question paper was leaked, and following the uproar, the exam had to be cancelled and the remaining exams postponed.

The Bihar Police had registered 75 FIRs across 23 districts and arrested 207 persons. On March 7, 2024, nearly three months after the recruitment exam was cancelled due to the leak, the Bihar government removed the chairman of the Central Selection Board of Constables (CSBC) and former Bihar Director General of Police (DGP), S.K. Singhal.

“Investigation revealed that the answer was shared on social media before the exam. Sanjeev Mukhia, his nephew Shubham Kumar, and associate Raj Kishore were booked under sections of cheating, forgery, criminal conspiracy, the Information Technology (IT) Act, and the Bihar Examination Conducting Act, 1981,” said an investigator familiar with the development.

Sanjeev has four cases registered against him, while Shubham and Rajkishore have two criminal cases each filed against them. Rajkishore was caught with a walkie-talkie and Bluetooth device during the 2023 CSBC exam in October.

“The arrest is expected to reveal more about the people and methods behind such exam scams in Bihar. EoU will take assistance from the Cyber Forensic team to analyse data from the equipment recovered from the accused’s possession,” he added.