CBSE paper leak: Rs 2,500 per subject; Mumbai parents angry; top 10 developments

Parents of students from Mumbai who attempted the leaked papers were angry at the CBSE for their abrupt change of decisions on the issue, according to to a report by news website DNA. The CBSE had earlier said that Mumbai students might have to take a re-exam too as they suspected a paper leak in the metropolis. In the aftermath, the parents had objected saying that they confident of a fair examination. However, the central education board on Saturday reached the conclusion that the scope of the CBSE paper leak extended only to Delhi and Haryana, so no re-exams would be held in other states of the country.

Three accused were on Sunday arrested from Delhi's outskirts in connection with the paper leak -- two of them teachers and one the owner of a coaching centre.

There might be more reasons for concern as the police have uncovered the modus operandi that could have been replicated for papers of more subjects during the board exams. The school authorities of Mother Khajani Convent have been questioned and the police are looking for leads, according to a PTI report.

The arrested teachers have been identified as Rishabh and Rohit. They are teachers of mathematics and physics, respectively, at Mother Khazani Convent School at Bawana. The coaching institute owner goes by the name Tauqeer.

A report by The Hindu specified Rs 2,500 as the amount Tauqeer charged from a student for leaking a paper. The police are said to have got a major lead in the case as they have found WhatsApp conversations that contained the leaked papers.

The CBSE academic unit at Rouse Avenue near ITO had on March 26 received some sheets of handwritten answers of economics paper in an envelope without sender's name.

Anil Swarup, the HRD secretary on Sunday tweeted: A wake up call indeed. The interest of school children is paramount. They have suffered on account of someone else's mischief. Strict action will be taken against miscreants. Technology will be used to bring about systemic changes. Meanwhile, CBSE board exams have been cancelled in Punjab due to the Bharat bandh called for by Dalit organisations on Monday. The CBSE paper leak of Class 10 maths and Class 12 economics question papers has affected lakhs of students across India. Here are the top 10 developments around the CBSE paper leak case:

1. Were more papers leaked? The authorities of Mother Khajani Convent School is under the scanner for allegedly providing the question papers to the teachers much ahead of the scheduled time, a police officer privy to the probe said.

The invigilators are provided question papers at 9.45 am on the examination day and are allowed to open those immediately.

The exam starts at 10.30 am.

However, in this case, the school authorities allegedly provided the question papers to teachers around 9.10 am.

The police are investigating whether the school had provided question papers of other subjects to the teachers before the scheduled time and whether those were also leaked.

2. Two-day custody of accused teachers, coaching centre owner: All the three accused in the case, a coaching centre owner and two teachers of the Mother Khajani Convent School were sent to two days' police custody by the Kakardooma court in Delhi on Sunday.

Those arrested were identified as Rishabh (29) and Rohit (26), teachers at the private school in Bawana, and Tauqeer (26), a tutor at a private coaching centre there, the police said.

The coaching centre owner, Tauqeer, had allegedly leaked the economics paper half an hour before the exam and sent it to the teachers on WhatsApp, the police told PTI.

3. Principal, five other teachers in the dock: Police have questioned the principal of the school and five teachers of the school in connection with the paper leak. They have not been given a clean chit, said the official.

4. Delhi Police takes lead in probe: Delhi Police on Saturday sent three teams to schools, exam centres and their houses in outer Delhi to investigate the Class X and XII paper leaks, according to ANI.

More than 60 people have been questioned till now, out of which 10 are tutors of coaching centres. Moreover, about 50 mobile phones of students and tutors have been seized, reported ANI.

5. Google helps Delhi Police: Google helped the police identify the man who sent the mail to alert the Board Chairman Anita Karwal about the paper leak, a police officer said.

The police officer said: "The man who sent the alert to CBSE Chairman is being questioned to ascertain from where he got the question papers and who were the culprits in this syndicate."

"The man using email id 'dev0532@gmail.com' had alerted Karwal on March 28 regarding the leak of Class 10 mathematics paper," he added

6. Congress asks PM Modi to break silence: The Opposition stepped up its attack on the government over the CBSE paper leaks, with the Congress accusing the government of sheltering the "exam mafia" that it claimed has taken over the examination system of the country.

The Congress questioned Prime Minister Narendra Modi's silence on the issue and asked why he has not apologised for the paper leaks.

Taking a jibe at the prime minister, Congress president Rahul Gandhi said Modi would now write a sequel to his book "Exam Warriors" to teach students and

parents stress relief, once their lives are "destroyed due to leaked exam papers".

7. Leaked Hindi, Political Science paper fake: The Class 12 Hindi (Elective) and Political Science papers being circulated on the social media were fake or previous year question paper, the CBSE said. Days after Economics and Maths paper leaks rocked the board examination, a whistleblower has come forward with the claim that Political Science paper was also made public.

8. Students to take Class 10 CBSE maths re-test only if the leak is large-scale: Clearing the air over the possibility of class 10 CBSE re-examination in Delhi and Haryana, Javadekar stated that a re-test would be conducted only if the

police investigation points to a large-scale leak.

9. No re-test abroad: The CBSE said that there won't be any re-examninations abroad as the papers were not leaked outside India.

10. HRD suspends 'lax' Board official: A Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) official, found "lax" in the examination paper leak case of class 10 and 12, was suspended on Sunday, HRD Secretary Anil Swarup said.

"On the direction of HRD Minister Prakash Javdekar to take swift action against culprits, the CBSE has suspended K S Rana, the official found lax in supervising examination centre 0859 with immediate effect. A formal inquiry has been instituted," Swarup said in a series of tweets.