Angry about the alleged leak of question papers of an examination conducted by Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) on Sunday, nearly 100 students staged violent demonstrations in front of the commission’s office in Patna and beat up BSSC secretary Parameshwar Ram.Even as police struggled to control the situation outside the BSSC headquarters, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar said he has ordered a probe into the allegations that question papers were leaked during the second phase of the combined recruitment examinations conducted by BSSC.
“I have spoken on this matter with the chief secretary and the DGP. I have asked them to conduct a thorough probe and, if the allegations are found true, to ensure that the guilty are booked. So a probe is on,” said Kumar to journalists after the ‘Lok Samvad’ programme at his residence.
BSSC secretary Parameshwar Ram and at least two other officials of BSSC were beaten up by a group of 100 college students, who had gathered outside the BSSC headquarters under the aegis of All India Students Federation. With the demonstration turning violent, police called in a riot-control vehicle and rounded up about 20 agitating students.
“Leak of question papers for BSSC combined recruitment examinations two consecutive times is really reprehensible. We demand that the examinations conducted on January 29 and February 5 be cancelled and the next two examinations be delayed till foolproof arrangements are made for fair examinations,” said Sourabh Kumar, one of the agitating students.
Interestingly, both BSSC authorities and police have claimed that there was no leak of question papers on Sunday despite reports that question papers were sold in the market and circulated by WhatsApp.
“After receiving leak reports, we had got the series of question papers available in the market with the actual question papers and they had not matched. There were some cases of cheating by some candidates in the examination halls,” said Patna senior superintendent of police Manu Maharaaj.
Both BSSC chairman Sudhir Kumar and secretary Parameshwar Ram had refuted claims of the leak of question papers, terming them as rumours.
Meanwhile, the ruling JD(U) accused the main Opposition BJP of fomenting trouble in the name of raising the issue of leaks of question papers. “All this is being orchestrated by BJP. There is a distinct plan to defame Bihar and the state government,” said JD(U) spokesperson and MLC Sanjay Kumar.
