The findings of the Delhi police’s inquiry into the leak of papers for the Central Board of Secondary Education examinations have left even the investigators surprised. For one, it was apparently not done for money.
Handwritten copies of questions papers for the Class 12 economics exam held on Monday and the Class 10 mathematics exam on Wednesday had been leaked at least a day before each was to be held. As a result, the students will have to undergo of appearing for the exam again. This year, 16,38,428 students are appearing for the Class 10 CBSE board exams and 11,86,306 students for the Class 12 exam.
“All the persons we have questioned so far have admitted to have received answers pertaining to questions in the leaked papers through electronic means before the examination dates,” said RP Upadhyay, special commissioner of the Delhi police’s Crime Branch who is leading the investigation.
The investigators have questioned 25 people so far. “But they claimed to have shared it in their circles and not to have charged any money for that,” Upadhyay said. “From information received from the persons we have questioned so far and those provided by the CBSE, which involves phone numbers and email addresses, we are trying to join the dots and trace down the origin of the leak.”
It was believed the leaked papers circulated through WhatsApp, but a Delhi Crime Branch official who asked not to be identified said people had shared the answer scripts on Facebook as well.
The CBSE has now announced that it will conduct both exams afresh. In its two separate complaints to the police, the CBSE has named at least four suspects.
The police have not ruled out the possibility of an insider’s involvement in the leak and have asked the CBSE for details about the “paper setting process, storage and distribution”.
The suspects questioned so far include a tutor at a coaching institute in West Delhi who is named in the CBSE’s complaint. He told the police he received the economics paper on WhatsApp without paying for it or charging the students he gave it to, the official said.
The CBSE claims a complaint was faxed to its Delhi office on March 23 alleging that the tutor was circulating the economics paper. On March 26, the education board received a printed copy of the handwritten paper by mail. As for the mathematics paper, the CBSE claims that it learned about its leak while the examination was underway.
The police on Thursday also questioned five college students found to have given the economics paper to their younger friends who are still in Class 12. They hadn’t paid or taken money for it either, the official said.
The police have registered separate cases in connection with the leak of the economics and mathematics papers, invoking charges of criminal conspiracy, criminal breach of trust and cheating.