Chandauli (Uttar Pradesh) [India], March 5 (HBTV): The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has busted a departmental examination paper leak scam under the East Central Railway at Mughalsarai during an operation conducted on the intervening night of March 3 and 4, 2025, the agency said in a statement on Tuesday.

The East Central Railway had scheduled a departmental examination for the posts of Chief Loco Inspectors on March 4. During surprise checks conducted by the CBI at three locations in Mughalsarai, 17 candidates were found in possession of photocopies of handwritten question papers.

‘In this regard, a case has been registered against a Senior Divisional Electrical Engineer (Ops) and eight other railway officials, along with an unknown candidate and other unidentified persons,’ the agency stated.

According to the CBI’s investigation, the accused senior DEE (Ops) was responsible for setting and preparing the question paper. He allegedly wrote the questions in English and passed them to a loco pilot, who translated them into Hindi and forwarded them to an office superintendent (Trg). The office superintendent then allegedly distributed the question papers to candidates through a network of railway employees.

The CBI has arrested the senior DEE (Ops) and other railway employees on allegations of collecting money and distributing question papers. Seventeen departmental candidates, all working as loco pilots, allegedly paid bribes for access to the leaked papers and were caught red-handed during the operation. They have all been arrested.

In total, 26 railway officials have been arrested in connection with the scam. The CBI conducted searches at eight locations, resulting in the recovery of INR 1.17 crore in cash. These funds were reportedly collected from candidates in exchange for leaked question papers. The agency also seized handwritten question papers and photocopies, which were later verified against the original question paper and found to be identical.

(ANI)