The Uttarakhand Police have arrested Khalid Malik, the prime suspect in the UKSSSC graduate-level examination paper leak. The arrest came after an investigation into the matter, which suggests a possible conspiracy. According to SSP Dehradun, Ajay Singh, the investigation is ongoing.
"...The investigation conducted suggests a conspiracy angle, so a statement on this matter would be appropriate only after a detailed interrogation. However, as of now, he has been taken into custody, as he is wanted in this case. Furthermore, the most important thing was to determine whether there was a well-planned conspiracy. The second question was whether there was an organised gang involved in the paper leak. I would like to clarify that there was no organised gang involved, and I believe this was done by an individual or a group of individuals. We are investigating it from both angles. One is from the conspiracy angle, and the second is how he leaked the twelve questions of the paper. The investigation is still on, the interrogation is still going on, so we will be able to give detailed information about it later...His sister has also been sent to judicial custody...The investigation is ongoing…,” SSP Singh said.
Everything you need to know about UKSSSC paper leak
According to the FIR filed in the case, the leak began early on Sunday morning when Khalid Malik allegedly contacted Suman, a professor at a Tehri Garhwal college. Malik asked Suman to solve the test, claiming that his sister needed the answers for the exam. Around 11:35 am, Suman allegedly received three pages of the question paper. Suman sent the answers back within 10 minutes to Khalid Malik via WhatsApp.
However, after sending the answers, Suman grew suspicious about the authenticity of the exam and reached out to Bobby Panwar at 12:28 pm, again bypassing any official channels. She forwarded the three pages, along with the answers, to Panwar. The FIR claims that Panwar instructed her not to disclose the incident to anyone.
The investigation has revealed that the question paper was allegedly leaked during the examination, and that Panwar played a role in tarnishing the recruitment process.
SSP Singh has clarified that while the leak involved multiple individuals, it does not appear to be the work of an organised gang. “We are investigating both the conspiracy angle and how the twelve questions were leaked. The evidence so far suggests that this was the act of individuals, not an organised network,” said Singh.
In addition to Khalid Malik, his sisters Sabia and Hina, along with Suman, have been filed in the FIR in the case under the Uttarakhand Competitive Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment and Remedies) Act, 2023.
Opposition hits out, ruling responds
Congress leader Yashpal Arya has accused the government of negligence, pointing to Hakam Singh Rawat, who was arrested on Saturday. Rawat had previously been involved in major paper leak cases in 2021, including the SSSC exam and Forest Ranger recruitment. Arya claims Rawat was released on bail due to weak prosecution, allowing him to resume his illegal activities.
"The state’s biggest suspect in paper-selling rackets walked out of jail and immediately resumed his business," Arya alleged.
In response, BJP MLA Khajan Das defended the state government's record, claiming that over 25,000 appointments had been made under the current administration. “The incident from yesterday is being taken very seriously by the government. Initial findings do not suggest a paper leak, but rather that screenshots of the paper were sent out 35 minutes after the exam began,” Das said.
