The special investigating team (SIT) of Patna police on Wednesday arrested two persons, including HAMS' Aurangabad district president Ajay Kumar Singh, for their alleged involvement in the Rs 8.50 crore answersheet scandal.

Patna police had last week bumped into the scam involving printing of fake answer sheets in bulk. After arresting Vikas, a storekeeper with the Bihar School Examination Board (BSEB), the police unearthed a parallel scam in which orders were placed with a Gujarat-based firm to print blank answer sheets. These would replace the original ones of students who benefited from the toppers scam. The official tender for printing the question papers and answer sheets was given to a printing press in Mathura, UP.

"Apart from Singh, one Sadanand Shankar, an accountant at the Magadh University in Gaya, was also arrested," Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj said. "The police searched Singh's residence in Aurangabad and found around 18 large packets of blank answer sheets, weighing around four tonnes. SIT conducted the raids on the basis of tip-offs. Singh and Shankar are being brought to Patna for interrogation. The information unearthed today can be said to be linked to the toppers scam and the police believe former BSEB chairman Lalkeshwar Prasad Singh and secretary Harihar Nath Jha knew about it. The duo will be taken into remand in this connection."

Police sources said the reason behind ordering blank answer sheets worth Rs 8.50 crore was not clear yet. "Last week, representatives of Gujarat-based Bindiya Enterprises had come to Patna and lodged an FIR at the Kotwali police station in this connection," a member of the SIT said on condition of anonymity. "According to them, Vikas had contacted the company around three months back and falsely awarded them the tender to print answer sheets for the Intermediate exams. The company was told the exams would be held July onwards. But the exams had been conducted in February. The company printed 400 tonnes of answer sheets and dispatched it to Bihar in 28 trucks. The answer sheets then disappeared mysteriously. The scam came to light when officials from the Gujarat-based firm, who had not been paid, arrived in Patna."

The police say, prima facie, it appeared that once the answer sheets reached Bihar, they were distributed among many people, including government officials, for sale. "It sounds weird, but it does seem that the answer sheets were brought to be sold as scrap,"the officer said. "The quality of the paper is good; it can fetch good money. However, there are many unanswered questions, including why one should order 400 tonnes of answersheets for sale as scrap. Also, how did Singh, a politician and rice-miller, get hold of these answer sheets? During preliminary investigations, Singh said he had been directed by a senior Aurangabad district official to keep the copies with himself."

He further said: "The recovery today is just the tip of the iceberg, considering that 400 tonnes of answer sheets had been sent to the state. The police feel things will be clear soon."