5 members of a gang held in Uttar Pradesh TET paper leak case

Five members of a gang have been arrested for leaking paper and enabling cheating in connection with the paper leak case of the Uttar Pradesh's Teachers' Eligibility Test (UPTET) 2021.

As per the police, the accused have been booked under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), Information Technology (IT) Act and UP Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act.

Basti Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Deependra Nath Chaudhary said, "Five members of a gang that leaked question papers of UP-TET exam and enabled cheating, arrested. Case registered at Lalganj PS under IPC, IT Act and UP Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act."

"The investigation is on, and the accused have been sent to jail," he added.

Uttar Pradesh government has also suspended the secretary of the state's Exam Regulatory Authority (ERA), Sanjay Kumar Upadhyay, with immediate effect in connection with the case.

The UPTET examination that was scheduled to be held on November 28 was cancelled following an alleged leak of its question paper.

The exam is now set to be held next month by the Uttar Pradesh Basic Education Board (UPBEB) and students will neither have to fill a form nor pay fees again.

State Education Minister Satish Dwivedi said that Chief Minister has been directed to invoke the National Security Act against the guilty. The case will be investigated by Special Task Force (STF), he said.

"CM has directed to impose the National Security Act, 1980; strict proceedings will be undertaken against those found guilty. STF is investigating, around 24 people have been arrested. The exam will be conducted in December," he said.

( With inputs from ANI )