28 nabbed even as authorities deny leak in BSSC exam papers
Patna,(BiharTimes): Even as the Nawada police claim to have busted a gang involved in helping the examinees appearing at Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) examination across the state and arrested 28 people and recovered sophisticated electronic devices from them in a raid on an examination centre in a private school near Simribigha village under the Warisaliganj police station area in the district the BSSC has asked Patna district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agarwal to probe the alleged question paper leak before the competitive examination, which took place on Sunday.
According to BSSC secretary Parmeshwar Ram the Commission has asked Patna DM to carry out investigation in this connection.
The intermediate level examination for the assistant posts was conducted at 742 centres in the state. Some of the candidates who wrote the exam alleged that the answer keys were available in public domain hours before the exam started at 11am. A handwritten page with 135 one-word answers went viral on WhatsApp hours before the exam on Sunday. The answers were reportedly for the Set-A booklet.
Reports said that the set name was also mentioned on the answersheet. Candidates who appeared at the exam told media that most of the answers matched with the options given in the Set-A booklet.
But Parmeshwar Ram hotly denied the allegations of paper leak. He said all such reports were rubbish. Sealed booklets reached the strongrooms of each district at 5pmon Saturday and sent to all the centres only two hours before the exam. Even the board officials would come to know about questions asked only after the booklets reach the BSSC office for checking of answers.
Reports also said that Nawada SP Vikas Burman, along with Warisaliganj police, conducted the raid and nabbed the 28 ‘scholars/experts’. Original answer books as well as various electronic devices used in helping the examinees were also seized.
The SP said one Sunil from Sonbarsa in Saharsa district was the gang leader. He was being assisted by a local, Gauri Shankar from Warisaliganj market. The same group was involved in a similar exercise on earlier occasions as well. This year they charged Rs 5.75 lakh from each candidate, the SP said.
The SP said the Warisaliganj centre was a random selection by the authorities followed by the raid by Patna police on Saturday in which three persons were arrested from a rented house at Kanti Factory Road under the Agamkuan police station in the state capital. The questions were leaked on WhatsApp to the ‘experts’ who transmitted the corresponding answers via bluetooth to the examinees. The items seized included a laptop, 2 printers, 36 mobile phones, 5 motorcycles besides original certificates and admit cards.
