Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh police on Tuesday handed over investigation into the alleged irregularities in the recruitment of 69,000 government teachers to a special task force as the issue took a political turn with Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wading in.
Announcing her party’s support for the candidates, she alleged that exam paper leaks and irregularities in marking had become the norm in the state. She said CM Yogi Adityanath should take responsibility for the candidates.
Addressing a virtual press meet, Gandhi said, “I spoke to a girl today who had travelled 200 km to take the examination. There are cases of cheating, fudging of marks, paper leaks etc. Why are results being delayed if there is no scam? I spoke to candidates. They have worked hard to achieve their goals and to build their future. if we don’t raise our voice together and don’t ask for change, then this will become a trend,” she said.
Taking on the BJP government in the state, the Congress leader said the CM should take responsibility and action, “be it cancelling exams or a re-exam”.
“Today, the voices of youth are being suppressed in Uttar Pradesh. I stand with all the candidates. These youngsters are our future, their fight is our fight. We stand with all the candidates and there is no politics in this,” she said.
The FIR in the case was registered in Soranv police station in Prayagraj and the decision to transfer the investigation to an STF was taken after the Prayagraj police recommended a change in the investigating agency to the UP government.
The Prayagraj police allegedly made this recommendation due to the large network of the accused in the case, after which the UP DGP gave his nod to transfer the investigation. The scam was allegedly masterminded by prime accused KL Patel who has been in jail along with other accused.
The line of investigation has also shifted to include some candidates as those arrested have reportedly admitted helping around 50 people clear the recruitment. Police have also arrested two toppers in the case.
The 50 candidates are alleged to have cleared the examination with the help of the accused who were reportedly paid around Rs 8 to 10 lakh per candidate.
It is alleged that Patel, a medical officer posted in Jhansi, engineered the scam. His name had also surfaced in the infamous Vyapam Scam in Madhya Pradesh.
A Zila Panchayat member, Patel’s group was allegedly operating in more than 18 districts in the state.
Addressing a press conference on the issue, Basic Education Minister of UP, Satish Dwivedi said, “The process of recruitment of 69,000 government teachers was underway, appointment letters were to be given to the selected candidates. However, the High Court has stopped the process for now. We have approached a double bench in this regard. This is a political effort to disturb the recruitment process. Those who were accused, including KL Patel, have been sent to jail. Now the probe is handed over to STF.”
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