PATNA, April 28 -- Many officials and employees associated with the Assistant Education Development Officer (AEDO) examination conducted by the Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) are suspects of assisting in cheating and the economic offence unit (EOU) of the Bihar police plans to send a questionnaire to the commission as well, said concerned officials. This step followed the filing of around 12 FIRs in seven districts against alleged cheaters, and the EOU is investigating the nexus of a "solver gang" and a blacklisted private agency. The police have also arrested 39 persons so far, including many aspirants. Officials said that out of 12 FIRs, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the EOU is taking up four. "Preliminary investigation has revealed that attempts were made to cheat in the same pattern everywhere. It is suspected that an organised gang is involved in the incident. Information has also been noted about the selection of the agency conducting the examination. In fact, the role of the private agency engaged for conducting the exam process has been found suspicious, which is being verified and the full details of the agency are being collected. The EOU has also received inputs of the agency being blacklisted," said an officer in the know of the ongoing investigation. According to officers, the biometric verification system was used for rigging instead of ensuring student identity during the examination. According to an investigating officer (IO) involved in the case, who spoke to HT on condition of anonymity: "The biometric operators used mobile phones inside the examination hall in violation of rules. At an exam centre like Nalanda's PL Sahu school at Sohsarai, the 'answer key' was hidden under the hologram of the biometric machine and then delivered to the candidates. Two biometric staff and a woman aspirant were arrested from the exam centre. Later, an FIR was registered based on the statement of centre superintendent Jitendra Kumar with the Sohsarai police station against two biometric staff Rahul Kumar Paswan and Chandan Kumar." The FIR, he said, was registered under sections 318(4), 319(2), 336 (3), 338, 340 (2) and 3(5) of the BNS Act. Mukesh Kumar, SHO of Sohsarai police station, said that the centre superintendent seized two cell phones, a Bluetooth device, and objective answer keys of C and D series. The centre superintendent in Munger has also been suspended for similar negligence. The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) had awarded the responsibility of biometric attendance to Jaipur-based private company, M/s Sai Edu Care Private Limited. The company, in turn, hired some local people as biometric operators to match candidates' thumb impressions, faces, and retinas during the exams. Additionally, they had the responsibility for scanning the OMR sheet's bar code and providing the company tabs to their staff. The cheating allegations in the AEDO exam came to the fore when FIRs were registered in Munger and Nalanda on April 14 and 17. According to investigating officers, the Munger administration received a complaint on April 13 that a person named Sujal Kumar was trying to obtain the question paper of the AEDO exam to be held on April 14. Following this, a police team nabbed Sujal from Telia Talab Mor around 12:30 midnight. A mobile phone and a bag containing laptops, iPads, and a list of biometric operators and supervisors were recovered from his possession. The police also recovered admit cards for 20 aspirants. During interrogation, Sujal revealed that a biometric operator was responsible for taking a photo of the question paper and sending it. The "solver" would then prepare answers to all the questions himself and send them back. The initial investigation by Munger police revealed the name of the owner of a local coaching institute "Rathod Classes". Its owner and the solver, identified as "Master Ji," have been absconding since the incident. Only after their arrest will the entire game of "fixing" in the exam be revealed, said an investigating officer. An EOU officer said that based on the investigation thus far and evidence collected in some cases, it could be concluded that an attempt was made to leak the exam paper. "Irregularities have been found in the examinations. An attempt was made to leak the paper. Evidence is being collected digitally and scientifically to ascertain the breach in the examination biometric system. The EOU has provided the answer keys recovered from Patna, Nalanda, Munger, Vaishali and Begusarai to the BPSC and asked whether the recovered answer key is true or false. Initial probe by the EoU found that the company entrusted with the job of key biometric matching had already been blacklisted by the National Testing Agency (NTA). The question is why such a company was assigned a crucial job at an important examination?" The BPSC, in its reaction on the allegations, said that on October 15, 2025, the NTA had barred the said company for one year and did not blacklist it as it has been alleged. "The NTA had barred the company from participating in all exams, but by then the BPSC had finalised its tender. So far, there is no information about a question paper leak nor has any case of a question paper leak been registered anywhere. FIRs have been registered for misconduct of officials and employees and that is being investigated by the EOU," said a senior official of BPSC, who did not wish to be quoted. Around 1.1 million candidates had applied for 935 posts in the AEDO examination. The BPSC conducted the exam in three phases. The first phase of the exam was held on April 14-15. The second phase of the exam was held on April 17-18. The third phase of the exam was held on April 20-21. For this, 746 examination centres were set up in all 38 districts....