Ahmedabad, July 21 (PTI) Twenty-three years after a case was registered against eight railway officials for leaking the exam paper for the post of the probationary assistant station master, the special CBI court here on Monday sentenced them to five years ' imprisonment.

The court also imposed a Rs 5 lakh penalty on each of them.

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The Central Bureau of Investigation had booked the then officials of the railway on August 17, 2002, following a complaint lodged by the then chief vigilance inspector of Western Railway, Ahmedabad.

The accused allegedly collected various amounts ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 lakh from candidates appearing for the written examination, scheduled for August 18, 2002, for the post of probationary assistant station master by leaking the question paper, the CBI stated in a release.

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The eight officials had been posted in Ahmedabad, Vadodara, and Anand. Another accused was a private person who died during the trial.

A chargesheet was filed on July 28, 2003, against the nine accused.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)