UPTET cancelled following paper leak, 23 arrested; exam to be held next month

Lucknow: The UPTET examination scheduled to be held on Sunday has been cancelled following the leakage of its question paper, Additional Director General Law and Order Prashant Kumar announced shortly before the exam was to begin. More than 19.99 lakh candidates were to appear for the Uttar Pradesh Teachers Eligibility Test (UPTET). Kumar told reporters here that the Special Task Force (STF) arrested as many as 23 persons last night using technical and other intelligence from different cities of UP. This includes four from Lucknow, 13 from Prayagraj, three by the Meerut STF and one from Kaushambi district. “The photocopy of the question paper was obtained from them, which was shared with the government. And it came to light that it is the same set of question papers as that of the examination, Kumar said. Immediately it was decided by the government that these exams will be cancelled, and the examinations will be held in the coming one month. All the expenses in this examination will be borne by the government. The candidates will not have to pay the fees or fill the examination form. Apart from this, it was decided that UPSRTC buses will be used to send back the candidates to their respective home destinations free of cost by using their admit cards,” he added. The officer said the matter will be probed by the UP STF, and persons or organisations involved in the leak will not be spared. The question paper of the examination had not reached the examination centres till Sunday morning. Items seized from accused included mobile phones and photocopy of question papers. “Apart from UP, some people of Bihar have also been caught in this. Either the solver gang leaks the question paper, or a solver (person impersonating the candidate) appears instead of the candidate,” Kumar said, adding more arrests will be made. The situation at centres was under control and announcements are being made there urging the candidates to go back to their homes, added the officer.