In January this year, the Chandigarh Police decided to investigate low rumblings that had indicated the paper had been leaked. It tipped off the Delhi Police, who managed to arrest five people on charges of disclosing papers for the police examinations in Chandigarh and Delhi. This prompted the Chandigarh Police to conduct a thorough inquiry, at the end of which it was found that the process had indeed been tinkered with. A criminal case was registered and two constables Shamsher Singh and Amardeep Singh were arrested.

During the process of the inquiry, several candidates — who thought they had made it but ultimately flunked — complained to the Central Administrative Tribunal, challenging the recruitment process. The CAT tightened the screws further, asking the UT police to explain its side of the story. The case came up for hearing before the CAT on Monday, during which the Chandigarh Police informed the court that senior officers had decided to cancel all recruitment.

The fresh date has not been set yet.

Investigation into this scam had revealed the handiwork of insiders in the police cadre, who took the help of seasoned hands in the “leak business”.

The prime accused, Joginder Dahiya and Ramesh Dahiya, are understood to have built quite a reputation, even leaking a paper once that was set for candidates to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Lakhs of rupees have changed hands, investigators said.