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Paper leak: Accused HPSSC officer’s son was to take exam, say cops
Her other son had cleared exam for market supervisor in HP Agriculture Marketing Board on December 15
A day after six persons were arrested for leaking the question paper for junior office assistant (information technology), police on Saturday said the son of the accused Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission (HPSSC) officer, who is a co-accused in the case, was slated to take the test on December 25.
Investigations have revealed that an admit card for the exam had also been issued to Nikhil Azad, the younger son of the accused officer, Uma Azad. As many as 1.03 lakh candidates had applied for 319 posts of junior office assistant (IT).
A team of state vigilance and anti-corruption bureau had caught Uma, a senior superintendent in the secrecy branch of HPSSC, her son Nikhil Azad, and a tout Sanjeev Sharma red-handed, while selling the complainant a solved question paper for ₹2.5 lakh.
The accused woman’s elder son, Nitin Azad, had also cleared exam for market supervisor in the Himachal Pradesh State Agriculture Marketing Board, the result of which was declared on December 15. Nitin was among the toppers, scoring over 70% marks.
Last year, Nitin had been selected for the post of auctioneer in the Himachal Pradesh Agriculture Marketing Committee, Hamirpur. However, he quit the job after three months.
With the disclosure, all recruitment exams conducted by the HPSSC over the last three years, since the officer was posted in the secrecy branch, have come under the scanner.
The vigilance is also probing Azad’s involvement in the junior office assistant question paper leaked in April. The paper was leaked at an exam centre in Sundernagar of Mandi district.
It is learnt that the officer was able to smuggle out the papers without anyone noticing as the CCTV cameras installed at the branch were not working.
Accused sent to 5-day remand
The six accused were sent to five-day police remand on Saturday. The vigilance team, which busted the racket after a tip-off on Friday also conducted searches at the residences of the accused.
Deputy superintendent of police (vigilance, headquarters) Kamal Kishore said incriminating evidence, including cash and documents, that require verification were recovered during the search. The question paper found in the possession of accused matched with the one kept at the HPSSC lockers.
The exam, which was slated to take place on December 25, was subsequently cancelled. The vigilance bureau has also arrested two aspirants – Ajay Sharma and Tanu Sharma – who had allegedly made online transactions in the bank accounts of the accused.
