Army paper leak scam: Mumbai cops yet to find phones of three arrested clerks

Those arrested by crime branch officials in the army paper leak scam

The Thane police have taken custody of the three army clerks till March 10, but have not been able to find the mobile phones of the three accused, which are vital evidence in the case. The question papers had been sent to agents and academy heads via whatsapp.

Those arrested were identified as Ravindra Kumar, Dharamveer Singh and Nigamkumar Pandey. Earlier, the Thane police arrested 21 people, including the agents running the racket. The police have also conducted a house search at the residence of one of the earlier arrested accused, Santosh Shinde, and found Rs 21 lakh in cash and R10 lakh in gold ornaments. "The cash and ornaments were found in his Axis Bank locker. Further investigation is on," said Parag Manare, deputy commissioner of police, Thane crime Branch.

The police will also search the houses of the three clerks for their mobile phone and other documents. "They had hidden their mobile phones and may have deleted the details to avoid controversy. But, we will take the help of experts to retrieve the data," a senior official said.

An officer said, "Any data that is deleted from whatsapp or messenger can't be retrieved by technical experts. It's difficult to get evidence in such cases."

A senior official claimed that even if they did not get the mobile phones of the three clerks, they had other evidence. "We got the phones of the agents and academy people which clearly show that they had received the papers on whatsapp from particular numbers," he said.