'SOG officials took Rs 64 lakh as bribe': Minister's explosive claim in Rajasthan paper leak case

Rajasthan Minister Kirodi Lal Meena on Wednesday said an accused in the teacher recruitment paper leak case had claimed that SOG (Special Operations Group) officials had taken 64 lakhs as a bribe at different times for paper leaks in the state. "I have received this letter through the post from Bhupendra Saran, who is in jail for the paper leak issue. In this letter, he has said that - SOG people have taken 64 lakhs as a bribe at different times for paper leaks," the minister said while speaking to reporters. 

Meena said he had given the information to the ADG (Additional Director General of Police) and told him that big leaders from the previous government of the state were involved in it. He also demanded the arrest and suspension of SOG officials who had put the "future of students in the dark".

Several paper leaks had taken place during the previous Congress government headed by Ashok Gehlot.  

Bhupendra Saran was the prime accused of a paper leak in the teacher recruitment examination, conducted by the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC). 

In May last year, the Enforcement Directorate questioned and arrested the RPSC member Babulal Katara and others in connection with the teacher recruitment paper leak case. The ED officials questioned Babulal Katara and Sher Singh Meena, a government teacher from Jaipur who had purchased the paper from Katara in the Udaipur Central jail.

India Today reported that Bhupendra Saran, Suresh Vishnoi, and other accused were also quizzed by the probe agency, which filed a case in the Rajasthan paper leak case to probe the money laundering charges. 

Babulal Katara, who was assigned to set the senior teacher recruitment exam paper, leaked it for Rs 60 lakh, and revealed the SOG after questioning the accused. The SOG of the state police arrested the RPSC member, his nephew Vijay Katara, and Gopal Singh, a driver employed by the commission, in April.

SOG said that Katara handed over the questions to suspended government school vice-principal Anil Kumar Meena alias Sher Singh for Rs 60 lakh. 

Meena then delivered the paper to the other main culprits of the racket; Bhupendra Saran and Suresh Kumar Dhaka. Anil Kumar Meena was caught by the Rajasthan Police in Odisha.

(With inputs from Jaykishan Sharma)