OSSC exam paper leak: Odisha police arrests alleged mastermind, 7 others

Balasore (Odisha) [India], July 27 : The Odisha's Balasore Police arrested eight people on Thursday, including the alleged mastermind, in the paper leak of the Odisha Staff Selection Commission’s (OSSC) junior engineer exam held on July 16, said a police official.
The alleged mastermind was identified as 35-year-old Vishal Kumar Chaurasia, a native of Bihar and a government officer posted at the Rural works department - Advance planning division-II, Patna. Police also nabbed the source of the leak – Virendra Singh alias Paswan, 53, a printing press helper outside Odisha where the papers were printed, said Balasore SP Sagarika Nath.
These arrests have been made from outside Odisha, taking the total number of accused arrested in the case to be 17.
"Investigation until now suggests that the question paper was leaked by Virendra Singh Paswan, one of the workers of the printing press where the question paper was being printed. Virendra Singh Paswan, who originally hails from Bihar and is working as a helper in a printing press situated outside Odisha, which was being used by OSSC for printing the question papers, said SP Balasore, Sagarika Nath.
Nath said preliminary investigation suggested that Paswan, who originally hails from Bihar and works outside the state, came in contact with Vishal, who belongs to the same place as Paswan’s brother.
“Telephonic communication establishes that Paswan and Vishal were in touch for the last two months, during which Vishal proposed Paswan to supply him with any relevant information regarding the question papers being printed at his press,” said the Balasore SP.
"On 11th July, when Vishal received confirmation that the question paper related to JE (Mains) Civils examination to be conducted by OSSC on 16th July is available, he contacted Bijendra Kumar (his main associate), who has already been apprehended from the spot on 16th July, while distributing the question papers," added the SP, Sagarika Nath
The mastermind of this crime, Vishal Kumar got selected into the Comptroller and Auditor General services through the Central Staff Selection Commission’s (SSC) Combined Graduate Level (CGL) Examination of 2013.
He joined as a Divisional Accountant in Accountant General’s Office, Patna in the year 2016. At present, he is posted at the Rural works department - Advance Planning division-II, Patna.
Prior to this job, he was in the post of Tax Assistant in Income Tax department, Durgapur, West Bengal from mid-2014 to 2016 after clearing Central Staff Selection Commission (SSC) Combined Graduate Level (CGL) examination in 2012.
He was previously involved in the question paper leak incident, which was detected by Delhi Crime branch. The said exam was for the recruitment of Sub-Inspector and Assistant Sub-Inspector, Central Police Organisation conducted by Central Staff Selection Commission (SSC) in the year 2013-14.
In the said case, he had leaked the question paper from a printing press located in Allahabad using one of his then associates in a similar fashion.
The main associate of Vishal Kumar, namely Bijendra Kumar was previously arrested in the case of question paper leak of Madhya Pradesh Public Service Commission (MPPSC) in the year 2013-14 and Bihar Public Service Commission in the year 2022. Some of his other associates, who have been identified, including the arrested Raj Kumar and Siddique were also involved in similar cases, read the official statement from Balasore police department.
The Modus Operandi of the racket is trying to get their hands on the question paper after the final copy is printed and before it is sent to the respective examination centres by the printing press.
They then take away the original certificates of the candidates and provide them with the leaked question paper. After the exams were over, if the questions matched, the candidates were asked to pay half the amount instantly and the other half after the results are declared.
In this instance, the initial investigation reveal that there was no transaction between the accused and the candidates, as at the time of the raid the examination was yet to be conducted.
However, the identified bank accounts of the accused are frozen till further investigation and the property registered under each accused name is being identified.
The Balasore Police have arrested a total of 17 people in this case out of which 6 from Bihar, 1 from West Bengal, 1 from Andhra Pradesh and 9 belong to Odisha, said the statement from Balasore police statement.