IAS Sudhir Kumar, arrested in BSSC paper leak case, suspended by Bihar General Administration Department

After Sudhir Kumar's arrest, IAS officers in Bihar are up in arms against the state police department, which they see as a collision between the bureaucracy and the police.

Patna, March 3: A week after senior Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer Sudhir Kumar was arrested in Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) question paper leak case, the bureaucrat has been suspended by General Administration Department in Bihar, news agency ANI tweeted. Sudhir Kumar, an IAS officer who is considered to be very close to Bihar leader Lalu Prasad Yadav headed the Bihar Staff Selection Commission and was arrested on February 24 in connection with the BSSC exam paper leak.

After Sudhir Kumar’s arrest, IAS officers in the state are up in arms against the state police department, which they see as a collision between the bureaucracy and the police. On February 24, along with five others, Sudhir Kumar was arrested in connection with a paper leak scam in clerical grade recruitment examination sending ripples of dismay in the state’s IAS circle.

Soon after his (Sudhir Kumar’s) arrest the IAS association in Bihar came out in his support and called for a CBI inquiry to ensure a fair probe in the matter. In this matter, the state IAS Officers’ Association has also approached the Centre alleging that Sudhir Kumar was arrested wrongfully in the BSSC question leak case. Also Read – BSSC chairman Sudhir Kumar arrested in paper leak scam

The association on Friday had sent a memorandum to the Centre’s department of personnel and training (DoPT) a day after an association delegation had met the governor in Patna on February 26. The memorandum says Sudhir Kumar, a reported 1987 batch IAS officer, has been falsely implicated in the leak of question papers. The Telegraph India reported that the association expressed its displeasure over the manner in which Sudhir, the chairman of BSSC, was arrested.

The memorandum signed by several IAS officers said that Sudhir is widely known as an honest and sincere officer and had served as home secretary of Bihar. In his long 30-years service, no such allegations were levelled against him, said the memorandum.

After his arrest Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had cancelled the examination which was supposed to be held on February 8. The investigation was later handed over to a Special Investigation Team (SIT).

For the BSSC examination over 18 lakh candidates had applied to the advertisement seeking applications for 9,600 clerical jobs in the state government.

Te arrest of Sudhir Kumar came after his relatives told the police that the 1987 batch IAS officer used to give them advance copies of the question paper.

Sudhir Kumar is a 1987 cadre IAS officer from Bihar and is also known as the most trusted man of Lalu Prasad Yadav. he has also served as Officer on Special Duty (OSD) with the Indian Railways when Lalu Prasad Yadav was Railway Minister.