HPSSC JOA IT Paper Leak: Court Sends Six People to Four Day Police Custody

Hamirpur, December 24: A court here on Saturday sent all the six people, including a Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission (HPSSC) employee, who have been arrested in connection with the junior office assistant (IT) exam paper leak case, to police custody for four days.

The vigilance department arrested the six accused -- Uma Azad, senior superintendent of the secrecy branch, HPSSC, her son Nikhil Azad, middleman Sanjay Sharma and Neeraj, Ajay Sharma and Tanu Sharma -- on Friday for allegedly selling and purchasing the paper. The exam, scheduled to be held on Sunday, has been cancelled by the commission. More than 1.3 lakh candidates were to appear in the examination at 476 centres. Teacher Recruitment Exam Paper Leak: Ashok Gehlot Says General Knowledge Exam Cancelled as Precautionary Measure.

Meanwhile, all the six upcoming written examinations of the HPSSC to recruit candidates to various posts will be held in accordance with the schedule, commission Chairman Sanjay Thakur said on Saturday. He said action against the woman employee of the commission, who was found involved in the paper leak case, will be taken once a detailed report is received from the vigilance bureau of the police department.

The vigilance department had received a complaint that a middleman named Sanjay had offered to provide the question paper to the complainant, following which a trap was laid. The middleman asked the complainant to meet him at NIT-Hamirpur, from where he took him to Azad's house, officials said, adding that the middleman as well as the government official were apprehended there.

Cash amounting to Rs 2.5 lakh and solved question papers were found at Azad's house, they said. The computer of the accused HPSSC official was also confiscated. A case was registered at the state vigilance and anti-corruption bureau, the officials said, adding that Azad was on the vigilance department's radar for a long time.

State BJP chief Suresh Kashyap termed the paper leak unfortunate and said a special investigation team (SIT) should be formed to probe the case. Naresh Chauhan, the media advisor to the chief minister, said police are keeping a strict vigil on all examinations after Chief Minister Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu made it clear they day he assumed charge that his government would be transparent, accountable and responsive. JOA Examination Question Paper Leak Case: Govt Employee Among Six Arrested for Leaking Exam Paper in Himachal Pradesh.

This is not the first time that a paper for a recruitment examination has been leaked in the hill state. Earlier this year, a constable recruitment examination paper too was leaked. A total of 253 people were arrested in connection with the case and chargesheets filed against more than 181. The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is probing the case.