Senior IAS officer's arrest may open Pandora's box

Bihar, which had faced global embarrassment over the topper scam in 2016, has again hit the headlines for a recruitment scam in Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC). In the latest development, the chairman of BSSC and senior IAS officer Sudhir Kumar was arrested on Friday in connection with paper leaks in the clerical-grade recruitment examination.

According to sources, the arrest of Kumar, who was Bihar's Home Secretary during former Chief Minister Jitan Ram Manjhi's tenure, may spill the beans on the whole recruitment scam, which has been in operation for several years. Reportedly, Kumar is believed to be the mastermind behind the paper leak scam.

"It's is a huge scam and was operational in the state for the past many years. High profile politicians are also under the scanner and the moment police get some tip off about it, action would be taken against them too," a senior Bihar police official said.

However, the Bihar IAS Association has opposed the arrest and dubbed it as "completely unwarranted" and demanded his immediate release saying that Kumar is an honest and sincere officer and was cooperating with the investigation.

"I can't comment on the IAS association's objections to the arrest. The SIT was following court orders. The officer has been taken into custody on the warrant issued against him by the court as there is concrete evidence against him," Manu Maharaj, the Patna's senior superintendent of police told Millennium Post on Friday.

In response to a query on politicians names cropping up, Maharaj, who is also the SIT chief, said, "As of now no such names have been 'revealed' by any of the arrested accused, including Sudhir Kumar, but the moment it comes to our notice, action would be taken against them too as per the provisions of the law."

Kumar was arrested from Jharkhand's Hazaribagh district along with his brother Avdesh Kumar and sister-in-law Manju Devi and three others in the paper leak case.

The SIT has made over 30 arrests, including BSSC secretary Parmeshwar Ram and a computer operator, who were arrested two days after the question paper leak ahead of the February 5 exam.