4 more arrest warrants, EOU probe set to widen
PATNA: The Economic Offence Unit (EOU) of Bihar Police, which has so far made eight arrests in connection with the leak of question papers of state civil services examination (preliminary) conducted by Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC), has obtained arrest warrants against four more persons, probe agency officials said, adding that 12 more suspects are on the radar.
“The list of beneficiaries is long and the probe may take another 10 days. The early availability of question paper on social media is another factor that could expand the ambit of probe,” said N H Khan, additional director general (ADG) who heads EOU.
One of the persons arrested by EOU is school teacher, Krishna Mohan Singh (41), who forwarded the question paper to three persons, including IAS officer Dr Ranjit Kumar. Two other recipients were student leader Dilip Kumar and a news channel, according to officials.
“Krishna Mohan and the IAS officer live in the same area. EOU had quizzed the IAS officer also, but there is no evidence of any foul play against him so far, though he remains under scanner till the completion of the probe,” said Khan.
Dr Ranjit Kumar, currently posted as director, panchayati raj department, only forwarded the leaked question paper to the controller of BPSC, Khan said.
The ADG said the income tax department as well as banks had been approached for details about the accused and suspects in the case. “We have also sought
details of the list of ‘VVIP’ aspirants who had their centre at the Kunwar Singh College (KSC), Ara. There is a strong probability that the question was leaked from the college, but it has to be corroborated with evidence,” he said.
Principal of Kunwar Singh College and one of its lecturers are among the first four arrested in the case.
During interrogation, Krishna Mohan, a school teacher at Deshri high school in Vaishali, said he himself had been a civil services aspirant for a long time, but could never get selected. He admitted having made question papers viral, an EOU official said.
“He seemed to be hiding many things. He admitted having sent the question paper to one Nishikant, an examiner at a centre in Madhubani. However, Nishikant shared it with 50-60 people,” said an EOU officer.
When the EOU examined some suspects, it also came to light that there is a racket which sends proxies to sit for examinations. The arrested agriculture assistant, Rajesh Kumar (39), also has history of using unfair means and he was there in the illegal “control room” unearthed by EoU at Lohanipur in the state capital since 11 am on the day of the exam, officials said. During interrogation, he admitted that the gang gave him Rs 1.25 lakh for solving answers.
The illegal “control room” was run by the alleged kingpin of the gang, Anand Gaurav alias Pintu Yadav. The EoU frozen his account which has Rs 12 lakh in deposit.
“The gang includes NIT graduates. One of the beneficiaries was wife of an assistant transport officer,” the official said.