CBI arrests 2 in Bengaluru over South Western Railway paper leak case

3 min readBengaluruJul 5, 2026 05:43 PM IST

Investigators also seized documents and electronic equipment allegedly used in the examination fraud (Image generated using AI).

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) Saturday announced the arrest of two people in Bengaluru in connection with the alleged leak of the General Departmental Competitive Examination (GDCE) 2022 question paper. The exam was conducted for departmental recruitment to the post of goods train manager in the South Western Railway.

The arrested accused have been identified as Palvoi Ashok and Sheik Jilani. Acting on a complaint by the South Western Railway administration, the agency had originally registered a case against 23 accused, charging them with criminal conspiracy, cheating, and the receipt of illegal gratification by public servants.

Following the naming of Ashok and Jilani as additional accused, the CBI raided their premises. The agency recovered highly incriminating documents, exam-related candidate logs, and electronic equipment, including scanners and printers, allegedly used to execute the exam fraud.

Both accused were produced before a special court in Bengaluru, which remanded them to CBI custody for four days for further interrogation.

The agency said the probe has uncovered evidence linking the accused to a conspiracy to leak the question paper and distribute it to select candidates before the examination.

Recovery from former BEML manager

The CBI said it also recovered undeclared assets from bank lockers belonging to H S Suresh Babu, a former senior manager of Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML), Mysuru. The operations are part of an ongoing probe into a disproportionate assets case registered against Babu in April this year.

The recovery was made during the sequential operations on Babu’s bank lockers at the State Bank of India (80 Feet Road Branch, Mysuru) and Karnataka Bank (V V. Mohalla Branch, Mysuru).

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During the operations, gold ornaments weighing 525 grams, silver articles weighing 416 grams, gold bullion (24-carat gold bars) weighing 241.21 grams, and a silver bar weighing 2 kilograms were discovered. Additionally, cash amounting to Rs 12 lakh and two fixed deposits totalling Rs 10 lakh were seized by the CBI.

The value of the seized items, which includes gold bullion and silver bars, has been determined to be Rs 1,02,91,184. When combining the values of all seized items, including the aforesaid gold, silver, cash, and fixed deposits, the total amounts to Rs 1,24,91,184. The CBI identified disproportionate assets totalling Rs 2.45 crore, which exceed his known sources of income by more than 100 per cent.