In a major crackdown on paper leak case, the Directorate of Enforcement (ED) arrested member of Rajasthan Public Service Commission Babulal Katara and produced him to the special court. The court has sent him to remand of three days.
Before producing to the court, ED investigated Katara, who is already lodged in jail after Anti Corruption Bureau (ACB) had arrested him in case of disproportionate asset.
The ED has also arrested middleman Anil Meena alias Sher Singh Meena in this case.
The central agency is likely to make arrests in the case. Last month ED had attached properties of five accused including that of Katara. It had attached properties worth Rs 3.11 crore belonging to Suresh Vishnoi, Suresh Dhaka, Bhupendra Saran and Sher Singh Meena alias Anil Meena along with Katara.
It has registered case again them under Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). ED has invoked PMLA as it has found that the paper was first leaked then then money was exchanged while selling the paper.
During investigation, ED came to know that accused had leaked the paper of General Knowledge in the second grade teacher recruitment test, which was conducted by RPSC across the state in December 21, 22 and 24, 2022.
ED also questioned RPSC chairman Sanjay Shrotriya
ED questioned RPSC chairman Sanjay Shrotriya and other officials in case and enquired about the role of officials in the paper leak case. The central agency will intensify investigation after it gets lead from Katara, who is now under three-day remand of ED. The central agency asked Shrotriya about the procedure of paper setting and people involved in it. They also asked about the number of people involved in the process and their cerdentials.
Accused sold papers to 150 candidates in Udaipur and 30 in Jaipur
During investigation, it was a found that RPSC member Babulal Katara leaked the paper of General Knowledge and handed it over to Anil Meena alias Sher Singh Meena, who further sold it to Bhupendra Saran and Suresh Dhaka. Both Dhaka and Saran took Rs 8-10 lakh from each candidate against the leaked paper. It has been found out that the accused gave the leaked paper to 150 candidates in Udaipur and 30 in Jaipur garnering Rs 18 crore in the course of selling and reselling.
More properties under ED radar
ED is investigating the case thoroughly. The investigation may give some more leads as the accused have been involved in paper leak of other competitive examinations also. They have also been involved in cases of providing dummy candidates in exams. ED may attach more properties of these accused on getting more breakthroughs.
ED had first conducted raids on June 5
ED had first conducted raids on 5 June across more than 28 places in paper leak case. It has conducted raids on the complaint of BJP MP Kirodi Lal Meena who had been staging demonstration against the paper leak since examinations were conducted. ED recovered many important documents and papers related to the paper leak from the places of RPSC member Babulal Katara, Suresh Dhaka and Suresh Vishnoi.
Who is Babulal Katara
Babulal Katara belongs to Bhatpur village of Dungarpur district. He became third grade teacher in 1987 and two years later he rose to become lecturer of Economics subject. A year later he joined state government's statistics department and took voluntary retirement to become member of RPSC in 2020.
It is believed that Gehlot government had appointed him as the member of recruitment commission to appease tribal community to which Katara belongs.
Hailing from humble background, Katara soon accumulated fortunes worth crores. People close to him said that the money he had accumulated was from illegal sources. He is prime accused in the paper leak case.
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