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HPSSC officer among 5 held for leaking question paper
The arrest of the HPSSC employee has also cast shadow on the recruitment exams conducted by the HPSSC, which conducts screening exams for Class-III posts in different government departments, public sector undertakings, boards, corporations and local bodies.
A Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission (HPSSC, Hamirpur) staffer and four others were arrested for leaking the junior officer assistant (IT) question paper and accepting a ₹2.5-lakh bribe for the same on Friday. The exam was slated to take place on December 25.
The accused, Uma Azad, a senior superintendent in HPSSC;s secrecy branch, her son Nikhil Azad, a tout named Sanjay and two aspirants have been arrested.
Additional superintendent of police (SV&ACB) Renu Sharma said, “A complaint was lodged by one Abhilash at the Hamirpur police station saying that a person named Sanjay had offered to provide him the question paper for the upcoming JOA (IT) exam for ₹2.5 lakh. The facts of complaint were verified and found to be true, after which a trap was set,” said Sharma.
On Friday, the tout called the complainant and asked him to meet at NIIT, Hamirpur. “The two of them went to the government quarters of the accused employee at the Housing Board Colony where they were provided the solved question paper by Azad and her son,” said the additional SP.
She said that the vigilance team raided the house and caught them red-handed with the solved question paper and bribe money.
The accused are being interrogated and will be produced in the court on Saturday. The arrest of the HPSSC employee has also cast shadow on the recruitment exams conducted by the HPSSC, which conducts screening exams for Class-III posts in different government departments, public sector undertakings, boards, corporations and local bodies.
Exam cancelled
Meanwhile, the state government has cancelled the exam. Chief minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu’s principal adviser (media) termed it a major breakthrough in the state government’s endeavour to provide transparent, accountable and responsive governance.
The state government will ensure that all examinations and tests conducted in the state by various agencies would be held in a transparent and responsive manner,” he said.
