Pune / Thane. Police arrested three persons from Pune for allegedly trying to leak the question papers of Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) recruitment exam to be held on Sunday. This exam was to be held on Sunday, which has now been canceled by the state government. Amid uproar over the decision not to conduct the examination, state housing minister Jitendra Awhad on Sunday said that from now on, MHADA will conduct the examination itself without involving any private agency, as cases of breach of trust are on the rise. Talking to reporters in Thane in the evening, he said only one person was aware of the question paper of the examination to be held on Sunday.
The minister said, “After the question paper was printed, the owner of the company kept it with him even though there were clearly instructions against doing so. He has been accused of breach of trust.” Earlier in the day, an official of the Pune Cyber Police had said that it was learned that some people are trying to leak the question papers of examinations for various posts including Engineer and Assistant Legal Advisor.
Based on the information, the Pune Cyber Police arrested three persons, including an employee of a software company, appointed to prepare the question paper, from Vishrantwadi area on Saturday night. He said that according to preliminary information, when the three were arrested, a Pune resident and a software company employee was traveling in a car with two other accused carrying the digital copy of the question paper. Both the accused were in contact with various people in the state. Both these accused are residents of Buldhana district.
Awhad said that since there are increasing cases of breach of trust in conducting (government) examinations by private agencies, MHADA has decided to conduct the examinations on its own. He said that the fees charged from the candidates will be refunded and no fee will be charged for the upcoming examinations.
At the same time, on the decision to cancel Sunday’s examination, he said that MHADA has got information that the question paper can also be leaked. He apologizes to the candidates for canceling the exam. A police official said that the examinations were to be held on different dates from Sunday to next week. (agency)