The Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan police has arrested a head constable deployed in the security of former Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot in connection with paper leak of the sub-inspector recruitment examination of 2021. More than 120 accused, including 54 trainee sub-inspectors, have so far been arrested in the case.
The accused head constable Rajkumar Yadav was the personal security officer (PSO) of Mr. Gehlot during his tenure as the CM, and continued as a member of his security staff after the change of government in December 2023. Mr. Yadav allegedly obtained the paper illegally through a source and provided it to his son Bharat Yadav.
Bharat, who cleared the written examination but failed the physical test, was also arrested along with his father by the SOG in a raid at their residence in Jaipur late on Friday night. Both of them were produced in a Judicial Magistrate’s court here on Saturday and remanded to police custody till August 12.
Mr. Yadav had earlier served as a PSO to former Minister Mahendrajeet Singh Malviya during the Congress regime. He allegedly received the leaked SI recruitment paper from Mr. Malviya’s then personal secretary, Kundan Kumar Pandya, who had obtained it from a member of the Rajasthan Public Service Commission.
Mr. Pandya has since been arrested by the SOG on June 5 in connection with the case. The exam, held in September 2021 to fill 859 vacancies of sub-inspectors and platoon commanders, was mired in the allegations of paper leak and irregularities, but a Cabinet Sub-Committee appointed by the Bharatiya Janata Party government has decided not to cancel it in view of the ongoing SOG investigation.
Reacting to the arrest of the police official and his son, Mr. Gehlot said on Saturday that the law should take its course if any person was involved in a crime. “I do hope that the SOG will investigate this matter without any pressure and reach a logical conclusion,” the former CM and veteran Congress leader said in a post on X.
Published – August 10, 2025 02:35 am IST
