The Vigilance Department on Saturday arrested six persons, including an employee of the Himachal Pradesh State Staff Selection Commission (HPSSC), here in connection with the junior office assistant (JOA) (IT) exam paper leak case, officials said.

The exam, scheduled to be held on Sunday, has been cancelled by the commission.

An HPSSC spokesperson said the Vigilance Department had received a complaint that a tout named Sanjay had contacted the complainant with an offer to provide him with question papers, following which a trap was laid.

The tout again contacted the complainant to meet him at NIT Hamirpur from where he took him to the house of the senior superintendent of the secrecy branch, HPSSC, Uma Azad, the officials said, adding the tout and the official were apprehended there.

A total of Rs 2.50 lakh and solved question papers were recovered from Azad’s house, they said, adding her computer was also confiscated.

Some other persons, who had made online payments to the tout, were also arrested by police, the officials said.

About one-and-a-half lakh candidates had applied for the examination.

A case has been registered in the state vigilance and anti-corruption bureau in this regard, the officials said.

The woman employee was on the radar of the Vigilance Department for a long time, they added.

BJP state chief Suresh Kashyap termed the paper leak as unfortunate and said a Special Investigation Team (SIT) should be constituted to probe the case.

However, media advisor to the chief minister, Naresh Chauhan, said police were keeping a strict vigil on all examinations in the process after the CM Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu made it clear on the very first day that the government would be transparent, accountable and responsive.

This is not the first time that a paper for a recruitment examination has been leaked in the state. Earlier this year, a constable recruitment examination paper too was leaked. The paper leak had shocked the state.

As many as 253 persons were arrested during the course of the investigation and chargesheets were filed against over 181 accused. The CBI is probing the case.

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