Patna/Hazaribagh, Feb. 24: The first bombshell in the question paper leak has dropped with the arrest of Bihar Staff Selection Commission (BSSC) chairman Sudhir Kumar and five of his relatives, though there were conflicting claims over where and when the 1987 batch IAS officer was apprehended.

Patna senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj, who is heading the special investigation team (SIT) probing the leak, said Sudhir, his brother Awadhesh, who is a geography teacher at Patna Women's College, Sudhir's sister-in-law Manju Devi, his nephews Ashish and Arun and another relative Rajan were arrested from Patna this morning.

Police allege Sudhir, a Bihar cadre officer, leaked the question paper and answer keys to help his relatives who were taking the clerical intermediate grade examination - Manju, Ashish, Arun, Rajan and another relative Hari Om who has not yet been arrested.

In Hazaribagh, however, Korrah thana outpost officer Pankaj Kumar said the SIT team followed Sudhir's SUV to his home in Matwari Mohalla and arrested him around 11pm yesterday.

At his Matwari Mohalla home, father Radhe Mohan Prasad - who retired from the post of joint secretary in 1990 in then unified Bihar - said his son was being made a scapegoat.

"My boy was home on leave (since February 21) and was supposed to return to work (in Patna) on Monday," Sudhir's father Radhe Mohan Prasad - who retired from the post of joint secretary in 1990 in then unified Bihar - told The Telegraph. "But he cut short his visit and decided to leave last night. He had asked his (official car) driver to come and fetch him.

"My son has nothing to do with any question paper leak case," he added. "Meri parwarish itni kharab nahi ho sakti. Usse fasaya ja raha hai (I raised my son well. He is being made a scapegoat)."

SSP Maharaaj said police have evidence to establish Sudhir's role in leaking the question paper: "The chairman had provided the question paper and the answer key to his brother Awadesh, who in turn provided them to his wife Manju Devi and four other relatives."

The Bihar government had cancelled the four-phase exams following question paper leak - after two phases were conducted on January 29 and February 5. The remaining two phases, scheduled for February 12 and 19, were also cancelled. The state government constituted the SIT to probe the case on February 7.

Police sources claimed Sudhir's nephew Ashish had received the question paper and answer key on January 23, and that Ashish had confessed that a relative had given him the question paper and answer keys to him in Hazaribagh. Ashish, the police sources claimed, had passed on the question paper and answer key to Rameshwar, director of a coaching institute in Beur, who sold them to candidates.

"Candidates had given Rs 6 lakh for the question paper and 50 per cent of the amount was taken by Ashish," said Rakesh Dubey, additional superintendent of police (ASP) and a member of the SIT.

Dubey claimed that Sudhir's role was not confined to providing the question paper and answer key to his relatives, but that the chairman was also in direct contact with the press printing the question paper and subject experts at Delhi who had framed answer keys - which is against the BSSC rules.

Police sources also claimed the subject experts were in contact with BSSC secretary Parmeshwar Ram, who in turn was in direct touch with several persons such Niti Pratap Singh (information technology manager at the BSSC), land broker Anand Sharma and Aurangabad district education officer Avinash, who allegedly leaked the question paper through WhatsApp.

Rameshwar, Parmeshwar, Niti Pratap Singh, Anand Sharma and Avinash have already been arrested. The SIT probe has also revealed that the arrested persons in the case were directly or indirectly linked with the BSSC chairman, sources in the SIT said.

The SIT has arrested 32 persons till date.

Sources said that when the SIT asked Sudhir the name of the subject expert who had framed the answers, he had taken the name of an IIT professor who has denied he had anything to do with the answer keys.

Sudhir's arrest has sent shockwaves through the administrative set-up. The Bihar IAS Association demanded that the matter should be transferred to the CBI. In a press note, the association said Sudhir is one of the finest officers and the association stands by his credentials. Sudhir was cooperating with the investigation and therefore the arrest is absolutely unwanted, the press note added. A delegation of the association also met chief minister Nitish Kumar over the arrest.

Though SSP Maharaaj denied having unearthed any political links to the leak, the arrest also echoed in the state political circles. RJD chief Lalu Prasad said he believed that Sudhir was an upright officer, "but let the police finish their investigation".

Former chief minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said: "The Nitish Kumar government is targeting Dalit officers; first BSSC secretary Parmeshwar Ram was arrested and later another Dalit IAS officer, Sudhir Kumar, was arrested."

The BJP welcomed the arrest, with leader of Opposition in the Assembly Prem Kumar saying: "The SIT should have arrested Sudhir Kumar long before."