Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government remains firmly committed to ensuring that all recruitment and selection processes in the state are conducted in a free, fair, transparent, and integrity-driven manner. In line with this commitment, the Special Task Force (STF) of Uttar Pradesh, while gathering intelligence on cheating syndicates, received inputs regarding irregularities, malpractice, and illegal extortion linked to the Assistant Professor examination held under Advertisement No. 51 by the Uttar Pradesh Education Service Selection Commission, Prayagraj, in April 2025.
Taking cognizance of the gravity of the matter, the Hon’ble Chief Minister ordered a confidential inquiry. Acting on credible inputs, the STF on April 20, 2025, arrested three accused, Mehboob Ali, Baijnath Pal, and Vinay Pal, who were part of a gang involved in preparing fake question papers for the Assistant Professor examination conducted on April 16 and 17, 2025, and defrauding candidates through illegal means. The arrests were made on charges of examination rigging and extortion.
In this regard, the UP STF registered a case (FIR No. 144/25, Sections 112, 308(5), 318(4) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), 2023) at Vibhutikhand Police Station, Lucknow.
To ensure the impartiality and confidentiality of the probe, the then Chairperson of the Commission was asked to resign, as the prime accused, Mehboob Ali, served as the confidential assistant to the outgoing Chairperson.
During interrogation, Mehboob Ali admitted to procuring question papers of various subjects during the moderation process and supplying them to candidates in exchange for money. His confession has been substantiated by the STF through detailed investigation and data analysis.
Further investigation, including analysis of mobile data of the accused and associated candidates, along with inputs from informants, led to the identification of additional suspects.
Accordingly, the Commission was requested to provide data related to the suspected candidates. Cross-verification of this data confirmed that the sanctity of the examination had been compromised.
In view of these developments, the Hon’ble Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Shri Yogi Adityanath, has ordered the cancellation of the Assistant Professor examination.
The Uttar Pradesh Education Service Selection Commission has been directed to conduct the examination afresh at the earliest, ensuring complete fairness, transparency, and integrity.
