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Explainer: What is the HPSSC paper leak scandal?
HT gives the background of the HPSSC paper leak scandal and how many exams and results are affected; the exam was to be held on December 25; cops found ₹7 lakh in cash, several incrementing pieces of evidence and question papers of two more recruitment tests from the accused
Last week, an aspirant Abhilash Kumar lodged a complaint with the state vigilance and anti-corruption bureau, Hamirpur, that some people, including one named Sanjeev Sharma, contacted him with an offer to provide a solved question paper for the recruitment exam of junior office assistant (JOA), information technology (IT), if he paid ₹2.5 lakh. The exam was to be held on December 25. Vigilance laid a trap, and Sharma again contacted the complainant on December 23 and asked him to meet at a pre-decided location. The vigilance team followed closely. Sharma took Kumar to kingpin Uma Azad’s residence, who was senior superintendent in the ‘secrecy branch’ of the Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission (HPSSC). Vigilance raided the house and caught all the accused red-handed with the question paper and ₹5,000 the complainant paid them as an advance. The JOA (IT) exam is cancelled immediately. During the subsequent search, cops found ₹7 lakh in cash, several incrementing pieces of evidence and question papers of two more recruitment tests, computer operator and junior auditor, which were scheduled early next year. Naresh Thakur gives the background of the scandal and how many papers and results are affected.
Who are the main accused?
Uma Azad: The senior superintendent in the secrecy branch, the department entrusted with the responsibility to keep question paper safe in its lockers. She would smuggle out the papers.
Sanjeev Sharma: The tout who would contact the targets/aspirants who can pay the money.
Nikhil Azad: Uma Azad’s younger son. He would provide the photocopy of the paper to the aspirants once the deal was struck. He was also an aspirant in the JOA (IT) exam.
Neeraj: Azad’s servant, who was a part of the racket.
Ajay Sharma and Tanu Sharma: Two aspirants who had paid money to the accused
How did the accused operate?
Uma Azad would steal the question paper from the locker when no one was around, would photocopy it and put the original paper back in the safe. Since she was the senior-most senior officer in the branch, nobody suspected her. After smuggling the paper out, the tout Sanjay Sharma would start looking for the aspirants, mostly in the Hamirpur district. He contacted them and offered to provide solved question papers in lieu of money. If the deal was struck, he took the aspirant to the house of the main accused where Nikhil Azad, who solved the question papers beforehand, would take the money and give a photocopy to the aspirant.
What’s next after an SIT has been formed?
The SIT would investigate all the exams conducted by the HPSSC in the last three years since Azad was posted in the secrecy branch. The VB’s Hamirpur wing would continue the probe into JOA (IT) paper leak and would be assisted by a tech team. The investigations have revealed that Azad’s elder son had cleared the exam for the post of market supervisor in the Himachal Pradesh State Agriculture Marketing Board result which was declared by the HPSSC on December 15. He was ranked fifth in the exam. Last year, he had topped the exam for the post of auctioneer in the agriculture marketing committee in Hamirpur. However, he quit the job after three months. More arrests are likely to follow.
Which exams are now on hold? How many posts will be affected?
The state government on Monday suspended the functioning of HPSSC relieving its secretary and deputy secretary of their duties. A special duty officer has been appointed, and all the exams underway or results of which have been declared but appointments are pending have been put on hold. Roughly, about 70 screening tests for 2,500 posts of different categories have been affected. Six exams were to be held in the next week. In some cases, the post-exam document verification process was pending, while in others only the result was to be declared.
