Jharkhand: SIT nabs senior official of State Assembly in JSSC paper leak case, opposition demands CBI probe

Jharkhand Police have arrested a senior officer of the Jharkhand State Assembly along with his two sons in connection with the Jharkhand Staff Service Commission’s Graduate Level Combined Competitive Exam (JSSC) CGL paper leak case on Sunday, February 11.

According to the reports, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Sunday nabbed under secretary Mohammad Sajjad alias Shamim and his two sons Sahjada and Sahnawaj from Nagdi area of Jharkhand’s capital Ranchi.

The SIT has also seized copies of admit cards, blank cheques, and mobile phones along with other documents from the possession of the accused. According to the reports, undersecretary Shamim and both his sons have reportedly given an assurance to several candidates for their selection and received blank cheques from them in turn. It’s been learned that, Shamim’s son-in-law has also been involved in the case and is currently absconding.

The accused were arrested a day after the special team also detained as many as three youths from Palamu district of Jharkhand in connection with the case, taking the tally of detained persons to 14. Earlier, the investigative team detained a number of suspects from separate cities, including Patna, Kodarma, Ranchi and Chennai, in connection with the case, the investigation has so far indicated suspicious role of as many as six out of the 14 person detained in the case.

JSSC CGL Paper Leak

It is to be noted that the JSSC CGL examination for a total of 2025 posts was organised at as many as 735 examination centres on January 28. According to the reports, around 3.5 lakh candidates appeared in the examination held in three shifts; however, the question paper for the third shift soon sparked controversy after it was claimed that the question asked in the third shift had been doing the rounds on social media since January 27.

The news triggered a massive outrage among the aspirants, who started protesting against the paper leak, leading to the cancellation of the third shift of the examination. The development also attracted sharp reactions from a number of senior leaders from the opposition parties, who blamed the incumbent Jharkhand government for its failure to  safeguard the rights of the student.

In a letter to the principal secretary of the State, former Chief Minister and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state unit President of Jharkhand, Babu Lal Marandi while demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the matter had alleged that the cancellation of the exams and paper leak have raised questions about the impartiality of JSSC.

It was further stated in the letter, “A number of candidates across the State have informed me about the paper leak case. There were allegations of selling the question papers for Rs25 lakhs, how can a paper leak of such stature can happened without the collaboration of the officials of the JSSC? The role of the commission’s chairman and other officials should be investigated by the CBI.”

Marandi had further raised fingers on the government’s action against protesting students in the paper leak case. Speaking to the media, the BJP stalwart alleged that the State government is trying to save close aides of Hemant Soren by filing First Information Reports (FIRs) against the students.

“When the agitated youths organised a demonstration against the paper leak, the State government filed FIRs against them. The government should file an FIR against the chairman of the JSSC and the agency that was tasked with conducting the examination, but they chose to file an FIR against the candidates who have been looted. The CBI will conduct an investigation; we are not going to spare it, said Marandi.

हेमंत सोरेन सिर्फ पत्थर, कोयला, बालू, जमीन ही नहीं बल्कि युवाओं की नौकरियां भी बेच रहे थे।

हेमंत सोरेन के परम मित्र विनोद सिंह के यहां से JSSC परीक्षार्थियों के एडमिट कार्ड बरामद हुए हैं, ईडी की जांच में इसका खुलासा हो चुका है।

हेमंत जी, आखिर झारखंड के गरीब छात्रों के भविष्य को… pic.twitter.com/VIrb49Kjm8

— Babulal Marandi (@yourBabulal) February 7, 2024

It is worth mentioning here that earlier the Enforcement Directorate (ED), had also claimed that the WhatsApp chats of Vinod Singh, a close aide of former Jharkhand’s CM, Hemant Soren revealed the sharing of several admit cards of students appearing for competitive exams held by Jharkhand Staff Selection Commission.

AJSU commences signature campaign

JSSC-CGL परीक्षा पेपर लीक मामले की CBI जांच की मांग को लेकर अखिल झारखंड छात्र संघ द्वारा राज्य के सभी विश्वविद्यालय मुख्यालयों और कॉलेजों में हस्ताक्षर अभियान चलाया। छात्र-छात्राएं अपने इन सैंकड़ों हस्ताक्षरों के ज़रिए इस सरकार की विफलता और सहभागिता पर उँगली उठा रहे हैं और CBI… pic.twitter.com/Ln3cczmB1T

— AJSU PARTY (@ajsupartyjh) February 12, 2024

Meanwhile, the All Jharkhand Student Union (AJSU) is also running a signature campaign across separate colleges and universities of the State for a CBI enquiry into the paper leak case.

According to the party’s press release, the party workers will run a signature campaign across several institutions on Monday, February 12, which will be followed by a torch procession on February 13. The party will also submit a memorandum to the authorities across all the district and will organise a protest march before the State assembly on February 17.