SITs come and go, but Bihar struggles with annual routine of paper leaks

By Ajay Kumar

Patna, Feb 26 (SocialNews.XYZ) Every time an examination is held in Bihar, the candidates participating in it are sure that the result will not come out in a proper manner. The reason for such an apprehension are question papers which are frequently leaked in the state.

From the board examination of Class 10 to the prestigious Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC), the question papers of almost all examinations have leaked in Bihar in the last one year. As a result, the future of youths is becoming darker as they are already facing a job crisis in the state.

The latest leak happenned on February 4 when the English question paper of Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB) Class 12 went viral on social media 30 minutes before the start of the examination. The exam started at 10 a.m.

Earlier on February 1, the maths question paper of BSEB class 12 was leaked in several districts like Muzaffarpur, West Champaran, East Champaran. The examination started at 10 a.m. and the question paper was available on social media like Whatsapp and Telegram at 9.40 a.m.

On December 24, the Bihar police arrested two persons who were said to be the masterminds of the racket in connection with the Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) exams. One of them appeared as a candidate in the examination centre at Jubilee School Shantipur, in Motihari city of East Champaran district. The accused had clicked the photograph of the question paper and sent it to his partner on WhatsApp between 10.53 a.m. to 11.09 a.m.

The students who appeared in the BSSC examination demanded the cancellation of the paper. They protested on the streets of Patna and vandalized government property on January 4, 2023. As a result, the Patna police lathicharged them at Dak Bungalow Chowk which led to several candidates sustaining injuries.

The most infamous incident took place on May 9, 2022 when criminals leaked the preliminary examination papers of the 67th Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) from Kunwar Singh college Arrah in Bhojpur district.

During investigation, Nayyer Hasnain Khan, the ADGP of the Economic Offences Unit (EOU) of the Bihar police, constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) which arrested 4 persons including Block Development Officer (BDO) Jaywardhan Gupta of Barahra zone of Bhojpur district. Gupta was deployed as a static magistrate at Kunwar Singh College Arrah.

Besides him, the SIT also arrested Dr Yogendra Prasad Singh, principal cum centre superintendent, Sushil Kumar Singh, professor cum examination controller and Agam Kumar Sahay, professor cum assistant centre superintendent of Kunwar Singh college Arrah.

The SIT headed by Sushil Kumar, SP of the Economic Offences Wing, registered an FIR (Number 20/2022) against these four officials under relevant sections of IPC in Barahra police station in Arrah district. These officials were allegedly involved in the misconduct of the 67th BPSC preliminary examination.

"In the presence of these officials, some students were given the question papers before the scheduled time of examination. The question papers were also found in the office of the examination controller," a SIT official said.

"As per the norm, there are strict guidelines for students and college staff not to carry mobile phones at the examination centres. Still, the mobile phones were available in the office of the examination controller along with question papers. These officials were held responsible for misconduct of examination," the officer said.

On the basis of their statements, the SIT managed to identify the kingpin of the question paper leak. He was identified as Ranjit Rajak, the DSP of the Bihar Military Police (BMP) unit 14.

Rajak was arrested on the charge of rigging the examination of the BPSC in 2012 for the first time. The EOU recommended him as a non eligible candidate in 2014 but the Jitan Ram Manjhi government gave the clearance for his result and he became a DSP rank officer in the Bihar police.

"During the investigation of a 67 BPSC question paper leak case, we called him to join the probe. When he appeared before the SIT of the EOU, he broke his cell phone and claimed that he was innocent and had nothing to do with the question paper leak case. Moreover, he had also cleaned his house as well, probably to destroy evidence if any had been in his house," said an official of the EOU.

During investigation, it was revealed that one of his modus operandis was to establish contacts with candidates and instruct them not to fill the answer sheets (OMR paper) apart from their names, roll number etc. He had contacts with the nodal agencies at the examination centres. He obtained those blank answer sheets and filled them with the right answers. The same modus operandi was being used in the mains examinations as well. Those candidates would obtain the maximum marks and feature in the merit list despite their numbers being lower in the oral examination.

Source: IANS