Former RRB Chairman Sentenced To 5 Years In Jail For 2010 Railways Recruitment Exam Paper Leak

The sentence by the CBI court was in connection with the leak of a question paper for the recruitment of 1,936 assistant station masters and assistant loco pilots in 2010.

The court imposed fines of Rs 1.75 lakh on Sharma and Rs 1.31 lakh on Jagannadham.

New Delhi: A CBI special court in Hyderabad has handed down five-year rigorous imprisonment to Satendra Mohan Sharma, former Chairman of Railway Recruitment Board Mumbai and nine others in connection with the leak of exam papers for the recruitment of 1,936 assistant station masters and assistant loco pilots in 2010, officials confirmed on Tuesday. Former Assan-Mangalore Rail Development Corporation CEO AK Jagannadham was also among those sentenced by the Principal Special Judge for CBI Cases in Hyderabad, as reported by PTI.

The court imposed fines of Rs 1.75 lakh on Sharma and Rs 1.31 lakh on Jagannadham, bringing the total fines on all 10 accused to Rs 7.87 lakh. The CBI initiated the case on June 15, 2010, after discovering the leak of examination papers for the recruitment of 1,936 assistant loco pilots and assistant station masters scheduled for June 6 of that year.

It was alleged that Sharma and Jagannadham conspired with other accused in 2010 to leak the question papers through agents for payments ranging between Rs 3.50 lakh and Rs 4.00 lakh.

"In pursuance of the said conspiracy convicted accused Jagannadham Shareen Kumar; P Ashok Kumar; Jagannadham Ramesh; Jagannadham Tirupathaiah; Mandarama Seshu Narayana Murthy; Vivek Bharadwaj; Srujan Jagannadham; and Shrirama Vijay Shankar, who were appointed as agents, lured several aspirants across the country and collected various amounts ranging between Rs 5,000 to Rs 1,50,000 (Rs 1.50 lakh) and original qualification certificates from about 193 aspirants," a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

The aspirants were reportedly transported to Goa, Sholapur and Nagpur, where they received tutoring sessions with the leaked exam papers, as per the statement.

"The CBI had conducted searches at the official and residential premises of the accused that also led to the recovery of cash of Rs 36.90 lakh (approx). During the investigation, 15 accused were arrested who were later enlarged on bail," the spokesperson said.

The agency filed the charge sheet within three months on September 13, 2010.

"The court after trial found the convicted accused guilty and sentenced them. Four accused were acquitted, while the trial against one accused was abetted due to his death," the spokesperson said.