Cops probe if CBSE Class XII maths paper was leaked too

NEW DELHI: On a day the Central Board of Secondary Education announced dates for Class XII economics and Class X mathematics re-tests, police said they were probing rumours that copies of the Class XII maths paper were also in circulation a day before the examination. A WhatsApp video, purportedly showing a third question paper, and screenshots of related messages that surfaced on the social media, were being looked into, they said.

The leaked papers may have been sent to centres in other states as well, police suspect. Crime Branch sleuths have questioned the CBSE’s controller of examination to get an understanding of the security measures that the board adopts to prevent papers from being “leaked” and the route they take — right from when they are printed to when they are delivered to exam centres. He was also asked about the steps taken by CBSE when it first came to know about the leak.

On Friday, the regional director and secretary of CBSE submitted to the police details of examination centres and bank custodians in Delhi-NCR. Having ascertained the names and contact numbers of exam staff and superintendents as well as bank managers, police are now likely to be summon them for questioning. The CBSE’s regional director is learnt to have told police that the board had received as many as six complaints regarding paper leaks, which had been forwarded to SIT.

The Crime Branch on Friday questioned 10 more students who were allegedly members of the WhatsApp group through which the papers were circulated. Till now, around 50 people have been questioned. Police are scanning contents of 15 mobile phones seized from teachers, tutors and some students a day earlier. Police sources said that the papers were circulated through at least 10 WhatsApp groups with around 40-50 members each. The role of four tutors — who were allegedly a part of all the 10 groups — was being ascertained, they said. Phone numbers of these tutors were attached with a handwritten fax sent to CBSE from an unknown number on March 23, sources said.

Police claimed that some former students and a few teachers of a private school were found to be members of the groups. However, the phones of teachers whose names have surfaced were reportedly found switched off when the police tried to contact them. Efforts are being made to track them, they said.

Police are probing the role of some parents in circulating the leaked papers. Reports suggest that, initially, the papers were being sold for Rs 35,000 a copy. However, the price gradually dropped to Rs 500. Police suspect that at least 1,000 students in Haryana and Delhi had access to the leaked papers.

Some of the students who were questioned by police on Thursday had claimed that these papers were readily available on encrypted social media apps. Though officially crime branch denied coming across a money trail, the probe had indicated that the papers were being sold for as little as Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000. Once money exchanged hands, papers were forwarded to students via WhatsApp. It became viral because students then forwarded it to others.