Bihar cops claim to have solved question paper leak scam, but where's the money?

It’s been a month since February 6 when, perturbed by the rumours about the Bihar Staff Selection Commission’s (BSSC) exam’s leaked question papers to 13,000 clerks, chief minister Nitish Kumar assigned a Special Investigation Team (SIT), headed by Patna’s senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaj to investigate the case.

Since then, cops have worked with appreciable speed and notched major breakthroughs by arresting bigwigs — BSSC’s secretary and senior State Administrative Service (SAS) officer Parmeshwar Ram and chairman Sudhir Kumar, a 1987 batch IAS officer.

The cops have alleged that the duo leaked the question papers to extend undue favours to a few candidates and money had changed hands over it. The police also claim that five of Sudhir’s relatives were taking the exam and he had helped them.

Accusing Sudhir of passing on the question paper and answer keys to his brother, who in turn provided them to other relatives, the cops have declared that they have nailed the case. Both Ram and Sudhir Kumar have been placed under suspension.

But, here lies the problem. While the cops have arrested more than a dozen accused in the case, their investigation so far has failed to pick a money trail to corroborate the corruption charges against the arrested biggies. “Where is the money? Can it vanish? In any corruption case, the investigators need to prove an element of corruption. There has to be a quid pro quo,” said a senior IAS officer, anguished by the arrest.

There is no dearth of claims from the cops. According to police officials, Sudhir Kumar’s arrested nephew Ashish — who was allegedly provided with the question paper and answer key in advance by Sudhir — has told interrogators that he sold a copy of it to a coaching institute for Rs 6 lakh. Police investigations have revealed that the coaching institute had struck separate deals with job aspirants for providing the question paper and answer key.

SIT sources have claimed that the leaked question paper reached nearly 1,000 candidates at Rs 5 lakh a piece, fuelling a possibility that almost Rs 50 crore could have changed hands. The irony, however, is that the cops are yet to find a money trail, which is absolutely crucial to nail the accused.

This is notwithstanding the fact that a seven-member team, with members from the economic offences unit of Bihar police on board, has been specifically tasked to trace the money which changed hands in this case. The results, however, still elude the cops. But, there are also other gaps in the police investigation.

A member of the IAS association, which has loudly protested Sudhir’s arrest, blames the Bihar police of cherry picking. “They have chosen to make a senior IAS officer a scapegoat just to earn some brownie points. On the other hand, the cops have desisted from nabbing politicians,” he fumed under the cover of anonymity.

Indeed, the police are believed to have evidence suggesting that several politicians from the ruling Grand Alliance parties had made recommendations for their respective candidates for various examinations.

So, why are they not interrogating the men in khadi? There are many questions. Only the answers are awaited.

(Courtesy of Mail Today.)

Also read: Latest scam in Bihar rips open credibility of competitive exam