Jaipur, March 22 (IANS) The Dausa District Collector has dismissed Harshvardhan Meena, a key accused in the paper leak case, from his post as Patwari, said ADG Special Operations Group (SOG), VK Singh, on Saturday. He said that the SOG’s Special Investigation Team (SIT) had arrested him at the Nepal border in February last year.
He has been in jail since his arrest, and the SOG has taken him on remand multiple times for interrogation, even as the authorities have registered more than six FIRs against him.
VK Singh emphasised on the Rajasthan government’s ‘zero-tolerance’ policy on paper leaks.
He stated that continuous action by the police and administration aims to break the morale of criminals involved in such cases. He further added that dismissing government employees involved in paper leaks sends a strong message and serves as a deterrent.
As part of this crackdown, Dausa’s mastermind in the Patwari recruitment case, Harshvardhan Meena, has been dismissed by Dausa DS Devendra Kumar.
Harshvardhan Meena was arrested in connection with the Junior Engineer (JEN) recruitment exam 2020, where he allegedly used a dummy candidate to fraudulently clear the exam.
His wife, Sarita Meena, was previously dismissed from service by then Bhilwara Collector Namit Mehta for a similar offense.
She allegedly used a proxy candidate to clear the SI recruitment exam 2021.
According to ADG, VK Singh, a total of 86 state employees have been dismissed or removed, including 45 involved in the SI recruitment scam.
Meanwhile, departmental enquiries are ongoing against 189 other state employees suspected of involvement in similar cases.
This stringent action highlights the government’s commitment to eradicating corruption in recruitment processes, he added.
Meena, a criminal with a bounty of Rs 50,000 on his head, belonging to the gang that leaked the paper in Rajasthan JEN exam, was arrested from the Nepal border. Rajasthan’s SOG police has arrested three other accused along with him.
He was running an organised cheating racket and had stolen and leaked the question paper of JEN 2020. HIs wife, who was also a Patwari, was arrested.
–IANS
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