The Army has cancelled an examination for pan-India recruitment of general duty personnel after a paper was found to have been leaked, officials said on Sunday.

They said at least three persons have been arrested in Pune so far in this connection.

"The Indian Army has zero tolerance towards corrupt practices in the recruitment process for selection of suitable candidates," an official said.

Based on a proactive joint operation with local police at Pune, a case of possible leakage of question paper for the Common Entrance Examination for Recruitment of Soldiers (General Duty) was reported last night, the official added.

While further investigation is still underway, it was decided to cancel the examination to ensure continuous transparency in the recruitment process, he added.

The soldiers (general duty) are the backbone of the army and consist mainly of fighting troops apart from other trades. They are enrolled into Arms or Services.

In Arms, they could join the Infantry, Artillery, Armoured Corps, Engineers or the Army Air Defence (AAD) as fighting troops, drivers, operators, gunners and many other general duties.

In Services, they could be enrolled into the Army Service Corps (ASC), Army Ordnance Corps (AOC), Army Medical Corps (AMC) on General Duties, operators and drivers.

The Indian Army recruitment offices conduct exams for enrolment of jawans, while Officers are recruited through the Combined Defence Services (CDS) exam conducted by the Union Public Service Commission and the Staff Selection Commission (SSC).