JSSC chairman resigns 24 days after paper leak

RANCHI: Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) Chairman Neeraj Sinha on Wednesday tendered his resignation citing ‘personal reasons’ amidst the ongoing controversy over JSSC paper leak case.

“.................. due to personal reasons, I submit my resignation from the post of Chairman, Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission today in the afternoon of 21.02.2024 ....... ” the letter addressed to chief secretary L Khiangte in Hindi, which is in access of HT, reads.

A JSSC official said though the chairman cited personal reasons behind his decision, the timing suggested he was in trouble.

“He resigned 24 days after question paper of Common Graduate Level (CGL) recruitment examination leaked and an FIR was registered at Namkum police station,” the official said.

Another official said,”On January 29, BJP state president Babulal Marandi demanded a CBI probe into the matter after it came to his knowledge that the question paper of CGL examination organised for recruitment on 2017 posts of state services at 735 centres across the state leaked,” the official said.

“On January 31, students had staged a demonstration outside the JSSC office in Namkum and damaged the windscreen of Sinha’s vehicle. On February 3, an SIT was constituted to probe the matter. On February 6, ED entered into the matter and asked police to provide copy of the FIR. On February 12, Jharkhad police arrested three people, including Jharkhand assembly under secretary Md Sajjad Imam alias Shamim and his two sons, Shahjada and Shahnawaz in the matter. Later a WhatsApp chat between Hemant Soren and his architect friend Vinod Singh in the matter also came to the fore,”the official further added.