Exam agency director arrested from Mumbai in 2022 JSSC junior engineer paper leak case

Ranchi: A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Ranchi police has arrested the director of the agency responsible for conducting the Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission (JSSC) Junior Engineer (Diploma) Competitive Examination, 2022, in connection with the paper leak case, officials said on Tuesday.

The accused, identified as Arun Kumar, was apprehended in Mumbai after investigators uncovered evidence suggesting the examination agency’s alleged involvement in the scam.

The JSSC had conducted the exam on July 3, 2022, for recruitment to 1,279 Junior Engineer (Diploma) posts. However, reports emerged that the answer key for the first shift had gone viral and the question paper had been leaked even before the examination started.

Following the controversy, the Commission cancelled the examination.

An FIR was registered at Namkum police station on July 14, 2022, based on a written complaint filed by candidate Mithlesh Kumar Mahto.

The case was lodged under various provisions of the Indian Penal Code, the Information Technology Act, and the Bihar Examination Conduct Act. Subsequently, a Special Investigation Team was constituted to probe the matter.

According to police, the investigation confirmed that the question paper had indeed been leaked. During the probe, officials found that the responsibility for conducting the examination had been assigned to Delhi-based Bynisys Technology Private Limited.

Interrogations and evidence collected also revealed that there was a syndicate allegedly involved in facilitating the leak.

Police claimed that through this network, several candidates in Patna were provided with answers in advance and made to memorise them before the examination.

Investigators further uncovered the alleged role of the examination agency and its operators in the conspiracy.

Acting on intelligence inputs that Arun Kumar had been hiding in Mumbai, a Ranchi police team conducted a raid and arrested him.

Police said that several accused had already been arrested in the case, including candidate and prime accused Ranjit Mandal, syndicate members Deepak Kumar, Abhishek Kumar and Deepak Srivastava, as well as the examination agency’s senior manager Krishna Kumar. All of them have been sent to judicial custody.

The newly arrested accused, Arun Kumar, is a resident of Khokhuna village under Chiksaura police station limits in Bihar’s Nalanda district.

Police said that several other suspects are still absconding and raids are being conducted at multiple locations to apprehend them.

IANS