Uttarakhand Police arrest an accused in the UKSSSC paper leak case in Dehradun on September 24, 2025.
| Photo Credit: ANI
Hundreds of students from across Uttarakhand on Thursday (September 25, 2025) continued their protest against the recent paper leak in Uttarakhand Subordinate Services Selection Commission (UKSSSC) graduate-level examination.Uttarakhand government on Thursday appointed retired justice of Nainital High Court, justice BS Verma to oversee SIT’s paper leak probe.Students demanded a CBI inquiry into the matter and termed the SIT formed by the State government to investigate the matter as “an act of cover-up”.Students and aspirants of competitive exams, while protesting at Dehradun’s Parade Ground, held banners and placards with slogans such as ‘paper chor gaddi chord’ (paper thief leave the chair).Students at Haridwar, Almora also organised a day-long protest and even slept on roads demanding justice. They alleged that BJP government’s anti-cheating law, that came into force in 2023, is no deterrent for the cheating mafia “who are destroying lives of youths who study for years for competitive exam”. Following widespread protests, the Uttarakhand government on Thursday (September 25, 2025) suspended, Suman, an assistant professor at a college in Tehri, who is accused of solving leaked question paper for a student.Two police personnel who were posted at the exam centre in Haridwar from where the paper got allegedly leaked were also suspended.Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami on Wednesday (September 24, 2025) termed the leak as a well-hatched conspiracy by the cheating mafia who, he said, want to create unrest in the State. He said that his government has brought toughest law against cheating to curb paper leak incidents.“As a result, in just four years, more than 25,000 people got government jobs. Also, since 2022, over 100 people have been arrested who were involved in paper leak cases… Yet, some people are not accepting this… Coaching mafias and cheating syndicates are collectively working to spread ‘nakal jihad’ (cheating jihad) and further attempting to disrupt exams and spread unrest in the State. I want to make it clear that my government will not spare these cheating mafias and ‘nakal jihadi’, and we will not rest until all cheating mafias in the State are behind bars,” he said.In an apparent reference to Muslims, Mr. Dhami had coined similar words in the past including ‘Love Jihad’ (word he used for interfaith couples), ‘Land Jihad’ and ‘Mazar Jihad’ (words Mr. Dhami coined explaining Muslims encroaching land in the state).The government has also formed an SIT, under the chairmanship of a retired judge, to investigate the paper leak in government recruitment exam that held on September 21, 2025. The paper leak came to light when pictures of three pages of the question paper went viral on social media, minutes before the commencement of the test.Since the investigation in the case started, Haridwar Police had arrested Khalid Malik and his sister Sabia for their involvement in the paper leak. Dehradun Police had arrested arrested two people, Pankaj Gaur and Hakam Singh, for allegedly promising aspirants for paper in exchange of money.Mr. Singh had been arrested and jailed in the past for his involvement in paper leaks. The police refused about involvement of any ‘gang’ in the incidents.BJP MP from Haridwar and former Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat, however, said that paper leak of such a government recruitment exam cannot happen alone. Published - September 25, 2025 09:29 pm IST
