Hamirpur: The Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission’s former Secretary, Dr. Jitendra Kanwar, arrested on Wednesday, presented before the Hamirpur court after being accused of involvement in a paper leak case. The accused was sent on a six-day police remand and will be produced in court again on April 10.
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has named Dr. Kanwar as a suspect in the Post Code 965 JOA IT paper leak case. He held the positions of Controller of Examinations and Custodian of Recruitment Records, in addition to Secretary of the Commission. The FIR was registered on December 23, 2022, at Hamirpur Vigilance Police Station, and eight people, including suspended senior assistant Uma Azad, her son, and a broker named Sanjeev, were named in the first FIR.
Dr. Kanwar was summoned to Hamirpur Vigilance Police Station for questioning by the SIT. The SIT had already presented the challan in this case on February 20, 2023, in the Hamirpur court. However, a supplementary challan will be presented now that the case has been registered against the former secretary. The SIT will also recreate the crime scene during the six-day police remand.
Apart from interrogating Dr. Kanwar, the SIT has written a letter to the FSL officials requesting permission to collect voice samples from Uma Azad’s younger son Nikhil Azad, servant Neeraj Kumar, and broker Sanjeev Kumar. The voice samples will be used to determine who the accused had bargained with in the paper leak case.
Dr. Kanwar served as Secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission in Hamirpur from 2017 until his dismissal in December 2022. During his tenure, more than 600 postcodes were recruited through the commission. The SIT has received complaints about more than two dozen recruitments, and other recruitments conducted through the commission are also under suspicion.
What happened in the Himachal Paper Leak Scam?
The first FIR was registered in the postcode 965 JOA IT exam paper leak case on December 23, 2022.
On December 24, 2022, senior assistant Uma Azad of the Selection Commission was suspended.
On December 26, 2022, the state government suspended the work of the Staff Selection Commission.
On December 28, 2022, a second FIR was registered in the junior auditor and computer operator recruitment paper leak case.
On December 31, 2022, Uma Azad’s elder son Nitin and broker Sanjeev’s brother Shashipal were arrested.
On January 05, 2023, the High Power Committee headed by IAS officer Abhishek Jain visited the Selection Commission.
The charge sheet was filed in Hamirpur Court on February 20, 2023.
On February 21, 2023, the Staff Selection Commission was dissolved.
Approval was given to register a case against former secretary Dr. Jitendra Kanwar on March 01, 2023.
On March 03, 2023, an FIR was registered in the Art Teacher Recruitment Examination case.
On March 11, 2023, a fourth FIR was registered against four people, including two peons in postcode 939 JOA IT.
The case was registered against the former secretary on March 13, 2023.
An FIR was registered in the postcode 819 traffic inspector recruitment exam paper leak case on March 22, 2023.
On March 23, 2023, two peons were arrested in postcode 939 JOA IT.
On March 27, 2023, Dalal Sohan Lal was arrested in the computer operator paper leak case.
On March 28, 2023, female candidate Sunita Devi was arrested in the art teacher case.
On March 30, 2023, Ravi Kumar, an accused in the postcode 819 traffic inspector recruitment exam paper leak case, was arrested.
The former secretary in the postcode 965 JOA IT exam paper leak case was arrested on April 4, 2023.
