CBI Disrupts Departmental Exam Scandal in ECR, Detains 26 Railway Officials

New Delhi, Mar 4: The CBI announced on Tuesday that it has dismantled a departmental exam racket within the East Central Railway (ECR) with the arrest of 26 railway officials and the seizure of Rs 1.17 crore in cash.

The arrests occurred on Monday night as the officials were allegedly involved in leaking exam papers intended for the promotion of chief loco pilots at Mughal Sarai, with the examination scheduled for Tuesday.

“During checks conducted at three locations in Mughal Sarai during the night of March 3-4, CBI agents found 17 candidates in possession of photocopies of handwritten question papers,” stated a CBI spokesperson.

These 17 candidates, who are currently employed as loco pilots, were reportedly caught red-handed after having paid for the leaked materials.

“In total, 26 railway officials have been arrested in connection with this case, including the 17 aspirants,” the spokesperson confirmed.

An FIR has been registered against a senior divisional electrical engineer (operations) responsible for drafting the examination questions.

“He authored the questions in English and allegedly provided them to a loco pilot, who translated them into Hindi and shared them with another railway official. This official then disseminated the questions to the candidates through other railway employees,” the spokesperson explained.

The accused engineer is among those apprehended.

“Searches across eight different locations led to the recovery of cash amounting to Rs 1.17 crore, which was allegedly collected from candidates to facilitate the exam paper leak.

“Additionally, handwritten question papers and their photocopies were seized, and a comparison with the original question paper confirmed a match,” added the spokesperson. (PTI)