Senior IAS officer arrested in question paper leak case in Bihar

PATNA: A senior IAS officer and Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) chairman Sudhir Kumar was on Friday arrested along with his brother and two more relatives in connection with the BSSC examination question paper leak case.

Sudhir Kumar, a 1987-batch IAS officer of Bihar cadre, was picked up from Hazaribagh in Jharkhand, where he was holidaying while his brother Awadesh Kumar and Awadesh's wife were picked up from their residence in Patna. A nephew of Sudhir Kumar has also been picked up for questioning.

So far, more than a dozen persons have been arrested in the case.
The BSSC secretary Parmeshwar Ram was earlier arrested and sent to jail by a Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Patna police headed by SSP Manu Maharaaj.

The examination is conducted for appointment of assistants in the state government's secretariat. The first phase of examination was held on January 29 this year, while the examination in the second phase was conducted on February 5. Though question papers were leaked on January 29 also, the leak became widespread on February 5 after question papers along with answers became viral on WhatsApp, as soon as the examination began at 11 am on February 5.

Earlier, Police arrested more than 30 persons from different locations in the state for allegedly possessing electronic devices meant for helping candidates in writing the paper for second phase of the examination on February 5.