Kingpin of JKSSB Paper Leak Case Remanded to ED Custody

PTK NEWS DESK 

JAMMU :  A special court here on Tuesday remanded Yatin Yadav, the alleged mastermind behind the 2022 JKSSB sub-inspector recruitment exam paper leak, to seven days of Enforcement Directorate (ED) custody.

Yadav, 43, a resident of Haryana’s Rewari, was arrested under the criminal sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Monday evening. The JKSSB sub-inspector recruitment exam, held on March 27, 2022, saw its selected list of 1,200 candidates, along with 1,300 junior engineers and 1,000 finance account assistants, cancelled by the Jammu and Kashmir administration in July 2022 following allegations of paper leak and malpractice.

The case was transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which filed a chargesheet against 33 accused, including Yadav, on November 12, 2022. The current ED case is based on the initial FIR filed by the CBI.

Special public prosecutor Ashwani Khajuria represented the ED in the court of Special Judge Bala Jyoti (Anti-Corruption, CBI cases), securing a seven-day remand for Yadav. Investigating Officer Rahul Verma, Assistant Director at ED’s Sub Zonal Office in Jammu, presented Yadav under proper custody, requesting a 14-day remand. However, the special judge granted a seven-day custody, noting that the investigation was still in its early stages and needed to be expedited.

Yadav’s arrest comes amid ongoing investigations into alleged irregularities in the NEET-UG and UGC-NET exams, with the Centre assigning these cases to the CBI. ED sources have described Yadav as the “kingpin” of the paper leak, orchestrating a plan with other touts based in Haryana and Jammu and Kashmir. These touts allegedly arranged candidates who paid between Rs 15 lakh to Rs 30 lakh for access to the leaked papers. The payments, mostly in cash, were later funneled into Yadav’s bank accounts.

In an earlier phase of the investigation, the ED attached Yadav’s bank accounts, a company named New Global Fumigation Corporation, and assets worth Rs 1 crore belonging to other involved parties. The special judge has directed the ED to expedite the investigation within the remand period.