Six more persons were arrested on Sunday, taking the number of arrests so far to 24, in the alleged question leak of the intermediate-level clerical grade examination, conducted at the Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC).
The Bihar government has since cancelled the examination.
Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj, heading the special investigation team (SIT) constituted to probe the alleged leak, claimed to have secured “some vital leads” in the case.
The police have also decided to send a written questionnaire to BSSC chairman and senior IAS officer Sudhir Kumar.
Though he was quizzed on Friday, two days after BSSC secretary Parmeshwar Ram was arrested, sources said his replies were not clear to establish the sequence of events to connect the chain.
“We decided to send him a specific written questionnaire and seek his written reply, as it is important to know where the questions were printed, before we can track the trail. There is a possibility of questions having been leaked from the source point. Besides, we have to record his statement,” said a police officer.
Sources said the questionnaire would have reached Kumar earlier had he not proceeded on leave.
“The confidential section is under the chairman and we expect to know from him where the questions were printed. The confidentiality factor no more exists once the questions are leaked and he has to clear the mist,” said a source.
Senior advocate Vinod Kanth said under normal circumstances, upholding secrecy of examination was paramount. “But in this case, when the examination is under cloud, maintaining transparency is equally important. The state, public as well as investigating authorities must know what is required to be known,” he added.
The BSSC chairman, on the other hand, said he was out of station and would be back by 5pm on Monday. “I have replied to whatever the police wanted to know,” said Kumar, adding he did not have much to say on the queries.
Chief secretary Anjani Kumar Singh said, “There will be no interference whatsoever in police investigation.”
The BSSC was conducting exam for over 17,000 posts of panchayat secretary, revenue worker and clerks, applications for which had been invited in 2014.
Source: HindustanTimes