Cops seize collector's laptop to probe question paper leak

Yavatmal District Collector Rahul Ranjan Mahiwal's laptop was seized by the Aurangabad police (Economic Crimes Wing) investigation team in connection with a government exam question paper leak scam.
Allegedly, the device was used to prepare question papers and answer keys which were later sold to aspirants for vacant posts in the Yavatmal Zilla Parishad, reportedly at a price of around Rs 25 lakh each.
When contacted, Yavatmal District Collector Rahul Ranjan Mahiwal confirmed that he had handed over his laptop and replied to a questionnaire given to him by the Aurangabad police investigation team.
"I have handed over the laptop on which question papers and their answer keys were prepared to Aurangabad police inspector Madhukar Sawant," Mahiwal said and also confirmed that he had replied to a questionnaire given to him by the cops.

It may be recalled that there were 105 posts of various cadres vacant in the Yavatmal Zilla Parishad for which an exam schedule was finalised from November 2 to November 22 last.
Being chairman of the District Selection Committee, the Yavatmal district collector was entrusted with the responsibility of preparing question sets and answer keys.

The test was held on November 2 as per schedule.
However, during the first session of the exam, the Aurangabad police unearthed a scam and accordingly informed the collector through a fax message that they had seized leaked question papers and answer keys of the exam.

The Aurangabad police arrested 11 people including an Aurangabad Sales Tax Inspector Makarand Khamankar and the director of an Aurangabad-based coaching centre Dadasaheb Wadekar, in connection with the scam.
Interestingly, despite receiving the fax message about the exam paper leakage scam, the collector conducted the exam on November 2.