JOA IT Paper Leak Case: Judicial custody of former HPSSC secretary extended till May 17

HAMIRPUR: A court here on Friday extended the judicial remand of a former secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Staff Service Commission till May 17 in connection with the Junior Office Assistant (Information Technology) exam paper leak case.

Jitendra Kumar Kanwar, a Himachal Administrative Services officer, was arrested on April 4. The court also sent two others, Neetu and her brother Gopal, to judicial custody till May 17. Neetu and Gopal were arrested by a special investigation team of the vigilance bureau in the case on April 29.

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Vigilance officials said the siblings had cleared the JOA (IT) test and allegedly bought leaked question papers from Uma Azad, the main accused in the paper leak case. The Himachal Pradesh government has placed Azad under suspension. She was arrested red-handed with solved question papers and cash amounting to Rs 2.5 lakh, besides a lap-top computer in December 2022.

After the paper leak was unearthed in December last year, the state government suspended the functioning of HPSSC and postponed all examinations. Later, the state government dissolved the commission.