In a bid to make quick and easy money, a government employee in Bihar is found to have adopted unique means by engineering leaking of questions for job aspirants across the country.
The incident came to light when the Odisha police nabbed Vishal Kumar Chaurasia, currently posted in the Rural Works Department’s Advance Planning Division-II, Patna. The man appears to have made a career in leaking of question papers just before different examinations.
Addressing a press conference on Thursday, Balasore Superintendent of Police (SP) Sagarika Nath said Mr. Chaurasia was the main accused in the leaking of questions papers for the Junior Engineer (Mains) Civils Examination conducted by the Odisha Staff Selection Committee (OSSC) on July 16. The examination was subsequently suspended following allegations of question paper leak.
“The man had leaked the question paper from a printing press located in Prayagraj of Uttar Pradesh with the help of an employee who incidentally came from his native place in Bihar. The OSSC had selected the printing press of Prayagraj for printing question paper,” said Ms. Nath.
The main accused was earlier selected for the Comptroller and Auditor General services through the Central Staff Selection Commission’s (SSC) Combined Graduate Level (CGL) Examination of 2013. He had joined as a Divisional Accountant in the Accountant General’s Office, Patna in 2016.
Prior to his present posting in the Rural Works Department, Patna, he was Tax Assistant in the Income Tax department, Durgapur, West Bengal from mid-2014 to 2016 after clearing the Central Staff Selection Commission (SSC) Combined Graduate Level (CGL) examination, 2012.
“Mr. Chaurasia was previously involved in the question paper leak incident, which was detected by the Delhi Crime branch. The said examination was for the recruitment of Sub-Inspector and Assistant Sub-Inspector, Central Police Organisation conducted by the Central Staff Selection Commission (SSC) in 2013-14,” the Balaosre SP said.
He was previously arrested in the case of question paper leak of the Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC) in the year 2013-14 and the Bihar Public Service Commission in the year 2022. Some of his other associates have also been identified.
The modus operandi
As per the preliminary investigation, the racket first tries to lay its hands on the question paper after the final copy is printed. Before it is sent to the respective examination centres by the printing press, they check the veracity of the papers. Then, they take away the original certificates of the candidates and provide them with the leaked question paper.
“After the examinations are over, if the questions match, the candidates are asked to pay half the agreed amount instantly and the rest is collected after declaration of the results. In the Odisha question paper leak, the initial investigation reveals that there was no transaction taken place between the accused and the candidates as at the time of the raid the examination was yet to be conducted,” the Balasore police said.
The bank accounts of the accused have been frozen and the properties registered in the name of the accused have been identified. A total of 17 persons are accused in the question paper leak.
