A court on Friday extended the judicial custody of a former secretary of the Himachal Pradesh Staff Selection Commission (HPSSC) till April 29, in connection with a recruitment exam paper leak case, as per a report by PTI.

Jatinder Kumar Kanwar, a Himachal Administrative Services officer, was produced in the court of Hamirpur Sessions Judge Vikas Bhardwaj in connection with the Junior Office Assistant (JOA, Information Technology) exam paper leak case.

Kanwar was arrested on April 4 and initially sent to police remand till April 10. He was then sent to judicial custody till April 21.

The events that unfolded previously

The vigilance bureau has detected leaks in about 30 exams conducted by HPSSC and it is probing irregularities in the conduct of 22 of them. Five FIRs have been registered in this connection and 15 people have been arrested so far.

The JOA (IT) paper leak case was unearthed in December last year when vigilance bureau sleuths arrested HPSSC Senior Assistant Uma Azad red-handed with solved answer sheets and Rs 2.5 lakh cash, reported PTI.

The state government has suspended the functioning of HPSSC following the paper leak and postponed all examinations. Later, the state government dissolved the commission.

Earlier this month, Vigilance Bureau DIG (Deputy Inspector General) G Shiva Kumar said permission will be sought from the government under Section 17A of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, to register an FIR against highly placed officials under scanner in the case.