Paper leak case: SOG arrests son of RPSC member Babulal Katara

JAIPUR: Special Operations Group (SOG) officials have apprehended Dr. Dipesh Katara, son of Babulal Katara, a member of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC), in connection with the senior teacher recruitment exam leak. Dr. Dipesh’s friend, a government teacher, was also taken into custody. Meanwhile, three other individuals have been questioned in the ongoing investigation.

Following the arrest of Babulal Katara’s nephew, Vijay Katara, and driver Gopal Singh, the SOG has shifted its focus to interrogating family members and close associates. On Wednesday evening, the SOG team arrived in Dungarpur and escorted Dr. Dipesh Katara and his friend Gautam Katara from Babulal Katara’s residence in Subhash Nagar. Additionally, Dr. Ravi Ghoghara, son-in-law of Babulal Katara, and friends Bhartendu and Vinay Tabiyar were questioned.

Dr. Dipesh Katara, an MBBS graduate, is currently not practicing medicine or employed. His friend, Gautam Katara, teaches at the Government Senior Secondary School in Shishod and unsuccessfully ran for the position of student union president at Dungarpur SBP College. He secured a government job in the 2017-18 academic year.

The whereabouts of Dr. Dipesh and his friend Gautam remain unknown, and local law enforcement remains unaware of the SOG’s actions. Dr. Dipesh completed his MBBS from Mahatma Gandhi Medical College, Jaipur, in 2021-22, while Gautam married just two months ago.

Babulal Katara, the prime suspect in the case, owns a lavish two-story bungalow in an upscale neighbourhood in Udaipur and a two-story complex on Hospital Road. As an RPSC member, he was provided with government housing at Todarmal Line in Ajmer. The Udaipur court has remanded him in custody for ten days, during which the SOG will investigate his properties across the state and uncover how he obtained the leaked recruitment exam.

During the interrogation of another suspect, Sher Singh, the SOG retrieved critical documents from his friend Shriram Sharma’s rented home. Items seized include two mobile phones, a dongle, a diary, and photocopies of the leaked exam from Sher Singh’s flat on Sikar Road, Ajmer. Additionally, investigators found a double bedsheet, a lock, three keys, and a computer set at the official residence of Babulal Katara in Ajmer.

Anita Meena, the girlfriend of paper leak suspect Shersingh Meena, had her bail application denied by the court. She is currently on police remand. The public prosecutor argued that Anita, a deputy manager at SBI Bank, had invested Shersingh’s illicit income in various places and assisted in the paper leak case.