HSC chem paper found on student’s phone before exam, 4 held for ‘leak’

Mumbai: Four persons have been arrested for allegedly aiding and abetting the HSC chemistry paper ‘leak’ last week.
Bhoiwada police booked the accused—Subodh Jha, Mahesh Gupta, Shilpa Tiwari and Mohammed Shaikh—under the Maharashtra Prevention of Malpractices at University, Board and other Specified Examination Act and under the Information Technology Act. On March 3, they were produced before the Bhoiwada metropolitan magistrate, which remanded them in police custody till Thursday.

According to police, on February 28, an HSC student was caught in the bathroom of a central Mumbai college with his mobile phone a few minutes before the chemistry paper was to begin. A professor snatched his phone and found the question paper and that he had forwarded it to a few other students. “We tracked the source of the paper leak to the accused and arrested them,” said a police officer. “We don’t want divulge any more information as it will cause panic among students and exams are still under way.”

The student has not been arrested.

The chief exam conductor at the central Mumbai college, who filed the police complaint, told TOI, “At 11.45am, a student told us that another student had the question paper on his phone. We went to the exam hall and called the student out. We found images of the chemistry paper on his WhatsApp and informed the state board officials and police.” But police claimed the student had got the paper much before the exam started.

Subhash Borse, in-charge secretary of the Mumbai divisional board, said they were aware that a student had been caught with a mobile phone at an exam centre, but denied that it was a case of paper leak. “We were informed that a student had a phone during the exam. The exam centre has taken up the matter with police,” Borse said.

After a series of paper leaks over the last few years, the board this year had sealed question papers in bundles of 25 only to be opened in the exam hall minutes before the distribution. The seal has to be broken in presence of two students from the exam hall.