The three arrested by Delhi police Saturday from Himachal Pradesh in connection with CBSE Class 12 Economics paper leak (ANI)
Three persons, including a teacher, were arrested by the Delhi Police Crime Branch from a private school in Una, Himachal Pradesh on Saturday for allegedly leaking the CBSE Class XII Economics paper. The paper was leaked on March 23 – three days before the exam date – in Una town and was shared on at least 40 WhatsApp groups, Delhi Police said on Saturday, according to PTI. With this, the total number of arrests have mounted to six so far.
A photograph of the paper was clicked by a clerk of the school and circulated. The student accused of copying the questions is being questioned by the police.
The three arrested include Rakesh Kumar, who had been teaching at the DAV school as a PGT economics teacher for eight years, Ashok Kumar, a peon and Amit Sharma, a clerk. “The three were arrested by the crime branch after a lengthy investigation and questioning,” PTI quoted R P Upadhayay, special commissioner (crime) of police, as saying.
Upadhayay said, “On March 23, three days before the economics paper exam, Rakesh Kumar collected bundles of computer science paper, the exam for which was due that day, from the strong room of Union Bank in Una. He also picked up a bundle of economics paper. While he took computer science paper bundle to Jawahar Navodaya, he handed over the economics paper bundle to his colleagues – Amit and Ashok.”
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“The duo took out a copy of the economics paper and sent it to Rakesh via WhatsApp messaging application. Rakesh then got it handwritten by a student whom he tutored. The hand-written copy was sent by Rakesh to his relative in Chandigarh, whose son was appearing for Class 12 exam. That way, the hand-written copy got leaked on WhatsApp groups,” he said.
“Later the three accused deleted the WhatsApp messages and destroyed the hand-written copy to hide digital footprints. The investigation so far has revealed that the hand-written copy was available on 40 WhatsApp groups. At least 30-40 students got it but a lot of trails is yet to be covered,” said Upadhayay.
“The motive for paper leakage so far has emerged that Rakesh wanted to help his student who was weak in economics. He also helped his relative. No money angle has come up so far, but the investigation is on to determine if the accused leaked any other papers,” the officer added. Rakesh was the centre superintendent of Jawahar Navodaya Public School in Una, where the CBSE exams were being held.
A Crime Branch special investigation team (SIT) is probing the cases related to the alleged leak of the Economics paper and Class X Mathematics paper following complaints from the board. The two papers were reportedly leaked and circulated on WhatsApp ahead of the examinations.
On April 1, three others, including two teachers of a convent school, were arrested by the police.
Sources in the CBI had earlier told The Indian Express that the four groups mentioned in the FIR, which was filed on March 27, had received a handwritten question paper from one of the group members a day before the Economics exam. However, at the time, most of the group members did not believe that these were the same questions that would be asked the next day.
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According to police sources, one of the groups received photos of handwritten questions from a group member. On seeing this, the members chipped in and said they, too, had received handwritten questions on WhatsApp. “This way, a number of chains surfaced during the investigation. The original source of the leak, though, is yet to be identified,” an officer said. It was the WhatsApp chain through which the SIT managed to get its first breakthrough in the paper leak.
Police said that over 100 people were members of all the four WhatsApp groups. The names of the groups have been withheld questioning is still underway.
(With PTI inputs)