Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami described a recent incident of alleged paper leak in the state as “nakal jihad”, or cheating jihad, amid protests on Wednesday, The Indian Express reported.

The Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission examination was held on Sunday. Allegations of a paper leak were made after three pages of the question paper were reportedly shared online.

Widespread protests against the government took place in the state on Wednesday over allegations of rigging in the recruitment exam.

The Uttarakhand Berozgar Sangathan and other groups had called on the state residents to march to Dehradun, where hundreds of demonstrators have been protesting at the Parade Ground since Sunday.

On Tuesday, the police had arrested two persons – Khalid Malik and his sister Sabia – in connection with the matter. The police claimed that Malik, who appeared for the exam in Haridwar, allegedly shared photos of the question paper with Sabia. She allegedly sent it to Malik’s friend, Suman, to obtain the answers to the questions.

Dehradun Senior Superintendent of Police Ajai Singh was quoted as saying by The Indian Express that Suman, a professor, solved the questions but did not send the answers. Instead, Suman informed local politician Bobby Panwar about the incident.

Panwar shared the photos on social media, alleging that the exam had been rigged.

However, the protesters claimed that Malik and Sabia were not the only ones responsible for the alleged paper leak.

The principal of the college where the leak took place is Dharmendra Chauhan, the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s Haridwar media cell chief, according to The Times of India. He said that only 15 of the 18 classrooms used during the exam had jammers to intercept mobile signals.

Khalid was in a classroom that did not have a jammer, Chauhan said.

“This time, the commission also ordered the CCTV cameras inside the rooms to be switched off, with cameras only at the main gate and control room,” he was quoted as saying.

Speaking to new BJP office bearers on Wednesday, Dhami alleged that some persons had ganged up “to conspire to leak the paper” in order “to destroy the future of the youth”.

“The coaching mafia and cheating mafia come together to carry out nakal jihad in the state…to spread anarchy in the region,” he was quoted as having alleged. “To those mafias and jihadis, I warn you that as long as the mafia is not destroyed. We will not rest.”

Congress leader Suryakant Dhasama told The Indian Express that the BJP government was taking the “easy route of communalism in the face of failures”.

“A day before the exam, scammer Hakam Singh was arrested [in a separate matter],” Dhasama was quoted as saying. “Similarly, several names associated with this incident have surfaced. But for the CM, this is also jihad.”

The police had arrested Singh and his alleged accomplice, Pankaj Gaur, for allegedly attempting to defraud six candidates by promising them guaranteed success in the Uttarakhand Subordinate Service Selection Commission exam for sums between Rs 12 lakh and Rs 15 lakh each.