The Bihar government cancelled the police constable recruitment examination on Tuesday after investigations by the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) confirmed that the test papers were leaked and the exams were compromised across the state.

Over 21,000 police constables were to be recruited and around 6 lakh aspirants had applied for the positions. The central selection board was to conduct the recruitment examination in three phases. The first one was conducted on Sunday (October 1) while the other two were scheduled on October 7 and 15.

“The central selection board had conducted an examination in two sittings on October 1. There were media reports about test paper leaks. Some of them publicised the answer keys of the papers. We took cognisance of such information and swung into action. Details about FIRs and recovery of electronic devices used in cheating were also sought from district superintendents of police,” EOU additional director general Nayyar Hasnain Khan told reporters.

Khan said that the entire issue reeked of organised crime and the EOU decided to take over all the cases.

“The tests already conducted have been cancelled while the ones scheduled later have been postponed. We will investigate this deeply and take strict action against the people involved,” Khan added.

According to the EOU, a total of 67 FIRs have been registered across 21 districts in the exam paper leak, and 148 people have been arrested.

The answers to the questions were circulated around one-and-a-half hours before the examination. They were recovered from several examinees during the examination.