Dehradun, Oct. 12 -- The Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission (UKSSSC) cancelled its graduate-level exam held on September 21 over paper leak allegations, a senior official said on Saturday. The re-examination will be conducted within three months. The decision was taken in the UKSSSC board meeting on Saturday, taking into consideration "interests of government job aspirants" and the interim report of the single member inquiry commission headed by retired Uttarakhand high court judge justice UC Dhyani, and rulings of the Supreme Court and high court, the above mentioned official said. The Bharatiya Janata Party-led state government had earlier ordered a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the matter. UKSSSC chairman GS Martolia said, "In the board meeting, we decided to cancel the graduate-level exam held on September 21, taking into account the students' demands, the inquiry commission's report, and the rulings of the Supreme Court and High Court. The exam will be conducted again within three months." The Uttarakhand Berozgar Sangh alleged that the question paper of the graduate-level examination went viral on social media around half an hour after the test began at 11 am on September 21. However, the UKSSSC stated that it was a case of individual cheating and not a systemic leak. According to the commission, three pages of the question paper were shared by a candidate from an examination centre in Haridwar with an outsider, but the overall integrity of the exam remained intact. Police investigating the case arrested the accused candidate, Khalid, and his sister, Sabia, in connection with the cheating. Officials said Khalid appeared for the exam at a centre in Bahadurpur Jat, Haridwar, where he used a mobile phone to photograph and send three pages of the question paper to his sister. Sabia then forwarded the images to Suman, an assistant professor in Tehri Garhwal, who solved the questions and sent the answers back to Khalid. On September 29, chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, while addressing the government job aspirants protesting at Parade Ground in Dehradun, announced the CBI probe and said, "I do not want even a single question mark on any recruitment process..." After the CM's announcement, the protestors deferred their protest but warned that if the demand of cancellation of exam isn't met, the protest will be relaunched. Ram Kandwal, president of the Uttarakhand Berozgar Sangh, said, "We are happy with the decision to cancel the exam. We express our gratitude to CM Dhami for meeting our demands. It is a victory of the hardworking youth who want a fair recruitment process. But it is also a tight slap on the leaders who earlier refused to accept that it was a paper leak." Kandwal added, "We now want the UKSSSC to ensure such incidents don't happen in future. Its working style should be revamped to ensure integrity and sanctity in government recruitments. We will also keep an eye on suspicious elements to ensure fairness in the exams." Earlier in the day, the single-member inquiry commission, headed by justice (retd) UC Dhyani, submitted its interim report to chief minister Dhami. Dhami said the commission has submitted its report within a short span of time after holding extensive public hearings and seeking suggestions from candidates and other stakeholders, which is "commendable." Officials said the report recommended the cancellation of the exam. Apart from an SIT, the government had constituted the single-member commission to probe the paper leak allegations. Dhami said the state government will thoroughly examine the report and "take a decision in the best interest of the candidates". The chief minister said that a recommendation for a CBI investigation has already been made to ensure complete impartiality in the matter. He said that the state government is committed to maintaining sanctity, transparency, and credibility of recruitment examinations and all necessary measures will be taken to ensure that no irregularities occur in future recruitment processes and that candidates and their families continue to have full faith in the state's examination system....