Kumar, a 1987-batch IAS officer of Principal Secretary level, was arrested along with his brother Awadhesh Kumar, sister-in-law Manju Devi and nephew Ashish Kumar from Patna.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Friday arrested Sudhir Kumar, Chairman of Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC), for connivance in the paper leak and government recruitment scam.
Kumar, a 1987-batch IAS officer of Principal Secretary level, was arrested along with his brother Awadhesh Kumar, sister-in-law Manju Devi and nephew Ashish Kumar from Patna.
Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP), Patna, Manu Maharaaj, who also heads the SIT, has confirmed the arrests.
“The case has been cracked, mostly using technical surveillance of cellphones. It was through Ashish that the handwritten question papers and answers were sold to setters and later went viral on WhatsApp,” Maharaaj said while showing a network web of the racketeers' operations by connecting their mobile numbers on a flowchart.
Ashish told media persons on Friday that he received the questions and answers at his maternal grandfather (Sudhir Kumar’s father) Radha Prasad’s home in Hazaribagh, Jharkhand, on January 23, six-days before the first leg of the four-phase clerical grade recruitment exam. Ashish had taken the exam in the first phase on January 29 and had solved 135 of 150 questions correctly, police said.
Maharaaj said the SIT had concrete evidence against the BSSC Chairman. “His responses to our queries have been unsatisfactory. The Chairman is the authority for printing of question papers and OMR answersheets, but he told us he had no idea where the question paper had been printed. Five members of his family, including Manju Devi and Ashish Kumar, were taking the Inter-level exam and had the papers in advance, as per our mobile-based surveillance,” the SSP said adding more pieces of evidence had been submitted to the court.
Meanwhile, the IAS Officers’ Association is on a warpath with a delegation meeting Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Friday evening and demanding a CBI probe into the matter. “He is one of the finest officers of the cadre and the association will fight tooth and nail for his cause,” read a press note issued by them.
Sources said Sudhir Kumar’s arrest were likely to have political repercussions as he is believed to be close to top political leader.
The Bihar government had cancelled the BSSC exam on February 8, following reports of paper leak. More than 18 lakh candidates had applied for selection to 9,600 and odd jobs through the exam. Sudhir Kumar had said during the course that he was approached by numerous politicians and bureaucrats seeking favours in recruitment exams, but he “did not buckle under the pressure.”
So far, 34 persons, including Sudhir Kumar former BSSC Secretary Parmeshwar Ram, have been arrested in connection with the scam. Interestingly, one of the suspect has connection with last year’s Intermediate topper scam fame Lalkeshwar Prasad, a police source said adding investigation will continue till all loose ends are tied.
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