According to the case diary, these politicians had sent the names and roll numbers of candidates to Ram asking him to consider their appointment
Fresh skeletons tumbled out of the Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) paper leak and job racket scam on Friday when the names of two state ministers, a former Union minister and two sitting MLAs were dragged into the controversy for making recommendations.
After a Special Investigation Team (SIT), led by Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj, seized BSSC Secretary Parmeshwar Ram's mobile phone and sent it to the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) for tests, more than 200 such messages were recovered from his mobile. Ram has been arrested.
The names that have cropped up after the forensic examination include Bihar's Cooperative Minister Alok Kumar Mehta (RJD), Law and PHED Minister Krishna Nandan Prasad Verma (JD-U), former Union minister and RJD Vice President Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, JD-U MLA from Vibhutipur, Ram Balak Singh, and BJP MLA from Muzaffarpur, Suresh Kumar Sharma.
According to the case diary, these politicians had sent the names and roll numbers of candidates to Ram asking him to consider their appointment. Most of these recommendations were for the post of auxiliary nursing midwives (ANMs), whose counselling commenced in January this year. One of the messages, purportedly sent by Raghuvansh, said: "The counselling is at 2 pm today. The candidate is like a family member. Parmeshwar ji, do message regarding it."
When reporters asked about the messages, minister Alok Kumar Mehta said: "We are political people and hundreds of commoners come to us with their pleas and have to oblige them. It is no secret that politicians lobby. However, I am ready to cooperate in any investigation." The RJD Vice President did not comment.
Patna SSP Manu Maharaaj said that all facts that have come to light will be mentioned in their report. "If someone seeks favour and another obliges and recruits an undeserving candidate, both sides are at fault. A separate investigation will have to be done for that," he said.
The SIT is currently investigating only the irregularities in clerical grade recruitment exam, which was cancelled. However, several other exams conducted by BSSC are under scanner and the Opposition as well as a section of candidates have been demanding to expand the ambit of the probe.
Earlier, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi had alleged that Bihar Speaker Vijay Choudhary too had recommended a candidate. The case diary also includes the name of a former Congress minister Sanjeev Prasad Tony, besides some bureaucrats, whose name have not been made public.
The Opposition's chorus for a CBI probe grew louder on Friday after the names of present and former ruling party ministers came to the fore. Ruling party leaders said the probe team was going well.
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