Patna, May 25: Senior IAS officer C.K. Anil has cast aspersions on Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj for allegedly implicating him in the leak of question papers of the clerical grade examination conducted by the Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC).

Anil, a 1991 batch IAS officer, has gone underground ever since his name cropped up in the question paper leak scandal. He was posted as officer on special duty (OSD) in the BSSC when the scam surfaced.

The officer revealed to The Telegraph that Maharaaj, who also heads the special investigation team (SIT) probing the question paper leak case, recently sent a letter to the home department requesting that action be initiated against him (Anil). The SIT has reportedly accused Anil of tampering with evidence and hiding some facts related to the case.

SIT chief Maharaaj denied the allegations. "The police investigation is based on evidence. The question of implicating anybody in the case doesn't arise. Action will be taken against the suspects on the basis of evidence only," the Patna SSP said.

The SIT yesterday submitted a charge-sheet against eight accused, including suspended IAS officer and former BSSC chairman Sudhir Kumar, in the special vigilance court in Patna. Anil's name does not figure in the charge-sheet.

Anil, who spoke to this paper from an undisclosed location, claimed he had neither tampered with any evidence nor hidden any facts related to the BSSC examination. "Since I was holding additional charge as officer on special duty at the BSSC, I seldom visited the office there," he said and referred to a letter sent to the general administration department by then chairman Sudhir Kumar to buttress his point. Kumar, since suspended, has been arrested.

Anil, who claimed that he was undergoing treatment for his spinal cord injury in hospitals in Delhi and Mumbai, said he had been posted as advisor to the Bihar state planning board for the past six years and withdrew his salary and allowances from that post and not as OSD at the BSSC. Referring to his role as OSD, BSSC, Anil said: "No work order, no work assignment, no work distribution was ever done by the commission. Practically I was posted without any work in the commission. Hence if no work has been allotted, how could I tamper with the evidence as alleged by the SIT?"

Anil said he was not in the loop regarding the BSSC exam process. "I have not even an iota of contribution to the examination nor have I ever seen any file or its question papers nor visited any examination centre on the day of examination," he said, and rubbished the allegation that he visited the commission's office after the arrest of Sudhir Kumar, then chairman of the commission, on February 24 this year.

He also denied that he had any files, documents, electronic devices, compact disk or any such accessories related to the BSSC in his possession. "I had applied for medical leave from March 1 to June 1, 2017, for the treatment of my spinal cord injury. I had suffered injuries while playing badminton on February 24 this year," Anil said in the telephone conversation.

The SIT had earlier alleged that Anil was not cooperating with the investigation and not deposed before the team even after repeated reminders. Anil also denied that he spoke to Sudhir Kumar and facilitated his escape from Patna to his Hazaribagh residence from where he (Kumar) was arrested by the SIT on February 24 this year.

Anil reiterated his demand for a CBI probe into the question paper leak case.