Crackdown on Raj exam mafia: SOG arrests ex-RPSC member’s driver, dummy candidate

Jaipur: Intensifying its crackdown on Rajasthan’s exam mafia, the Special Operations Group (SOG) has made two key arrests in separate recruitment examination fraud cases linked to the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC). The agency arrested the former driver of ex-RPSC member Babulal Katara in the Sub-Inspector Recruitment Examination-2021 paper leak case and a Rs10,000-rewarded absconding dummy candidate involved in the Senior Teacher Recruitment Examination-2022 scam.

Additional Director General of Police (SOG) Vishal Bansal said the former driver, Nadan Singh Rathore, allegedly exploited his proximity to Katara to secure undue benefits for his son, Ajay Pratap Singh, in the SI Recruitment Examination-2021.

“Rathore coordinated with former RPSC member Babulal Katara and allegedly obtained leaked question papers and answer keys before the examination,” Bansal told TOI.

According to investigators, the leaked papers were allegedly routed through Katara’s nephew, Vijay Kumar Damor, before being passed on to Ajay Pratap Singh for preparation ahead of the examination. Ajay was arrested earlier on July 18, 2025.

Investigators said Ajay scored 174.28 marks out of 200 in Hindi and 150.2 out of 200 in General Knowledge after allegedly using leaked material. Rathore was arrested on Wednesday and produced before a court, which remanded him to police custody till May 22 for further interrogation.

“We are now probing how he gained access to the paper leak network and whether more officials and intermediaries were involved,” Bansal said.

In a separate breakthrough, SOG arrested Manoharlal Manju (Bishnoi), a Rs10,000-rewarded absconder accused of impersonating a candidate in the Senior Teacher (Secondary Education) Grade-II Competitive Examination-2022 conducted by RPSC.

Officials said Manoharlal appeared as a dummy candidate in the General Knowledge and Educational Psychology paper held on Jan 29, 2023, at a Bharatpur examination centre on behalf of accused candidate Anil Kumar Meena. The original examination scheduled for Dec 24, 2022, had been cancelled after a paper leak surfaced.

SOG had earlier arrested Anil Kumar Meena on Sept 4, 2024, for allegedly clearing the examination and securing selection as a Senior Teacher (Science) through impersonators.

Officials said Manoharlal was serving as a Level-1 teacher in a govt primary school in Jalore district. “We identified him using advanced photo-matching technology and technical analysis,” Bansal said.