Ex-RPSC member Babulal Katara among 3 arrested in 2022 agriculture science paper leak case: SOG

Jaipur: The Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police has arrested former Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) member Babulal Katara, his nephew Vijay Damor and alleged paper mafia kingpin Anil alias Sher Singh Meena in connection with the leak of the agriculture science paper of the 2022 school lecturer recruitment examination.

Additional Director General of Police, SOG, Vishal Bansal said the investigation began after the agency received confidential information that candidates had obtained appointments through the RPSC examination using back-dated, forged B.Ed and M.Sc Agriculture (Agronomy) marksheets purportedly issued by OPJS University in Churu. A first information report was registered at the SOG police station on 5 March 2026 under sections 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120-B of the Indian Penal Code, naming Anita Choudhary, a school lecturer (agriculture) at the Government Higher Secondary School, Phagi in Jaipur district, along with officials of OPJS University and others. According to the SOG, Choudhary went absconding after the case was registered.

After Inspector General of Police, SOG, Ajay Lamba took charge, the probe was widened by Deputy Inspector General Paris Deshmukh and Superintendent of Police Kundan Kanwariya. Investigators identified Ashok Kumar Yadav, 33, a resident of Bai Ka Bas under Kaladera police station in Chomu tehsil of Jaipur district, currently posted as a school lecturer (agriculture science) at the Government Higher Secondary School in Diwrala, Sikar district, and arrested him.

According to the SOG, Yadav held a B.Sc Agriculture degree from a private university in Agra but did not possess the prescribed qualification at the time of the 2022 recruitment, and submitted forged B.Ed and M.Sc Agriculture marksheets back-dated and prepared at OPJS University, Churu. He secured the third merit position despite scoring just 68 out of 150 in the general knowledge paper, even as he scored 239 out of 300 in the agriculture science paper. The SOG said the disparity was significant because only 55 candidates cleared both papers against 280 advertised posts.

Under questioning by Additional Superintendent of Police Chiranji Lal Meena and Deputy Superintendent of Police Saleh Mohammad, Yadav allegedly admitted to paying Rs 7 lakh to Vinod Rewar, a member of the Anil alias Sher Singh Meena gang, for a solved copy of the agriculture science paper. The solved paper was provided to him a day before the examination on 10 October 2022, and he was tutored on it.

Anil alias Sher Singh Meena was subsequently arrested. The SOG said he confessed to obtaining the agriculture science question paper from Babulal Katara, then a member of the RPSC, in exchange for Rs 60 lakh. Investigators found that the responsibility for preparing the agriculture science paper at the commission had been entrusted to Katara, who allegedly carried the paper to his government residence, where his nephew Vijay Damor copied it into a register before it was passed on to Sher Singh.

The SOG said Damor was himself a candidate in the same examination, sitting for the geography paper, and Katara struck a side deal with Sher Singh that, in addition to the Rs 60 lakh, the gang would also arrange the general knowledge and geography papers for Damor. Sher Singh allegedly sent the two leaked papers to Damor’s mobile phone shortly before the test, but Damor did not check his phone before entering the examination centre and could not use them.

Katara and Damor have since been arrested. The SOG said Sher Singh further passed copies of the leaked paper to Vinod Rewar, Bhupendra Saran and Suresh Dhaka, who allegedly distributed it to other candidates and collected money. Bansal said the case is being treated as an extremely serious offence affecting the integrity of the state’s competitive examinations, and that the SOG is also examining other irregularities that may have taken place at the RPSC during Katara’s tenure. Further arrests are expected as the investigation progresses.