CBSE leak case solved: Una teacher arrested for leaking Class 12 Economics paper, also leaked Class 10 Maths exam

The Delhi Crime Branch has solved the CBSE Class X Mathematics paper leak case, reported media outlets. According to News18, Rakesh Kumar Sharma, the CBSE exam superintendent in Una, Himachal Pradesh had leaked the Class X Mathematics paper in addition to leaking the Class XII Economics paper. The Police said Kumar confessed to leaking the class X Maths paper during questioning.  As per a PTI report, police has also arrested two men and a woman in connection with the leak. [caption id=“attachment_4364157” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Representational image. PTI[/caption] Police had said the accused — Kumar, a teacher, Amit Sharma, a clerk and Ashok Kumar, a support staff in DAV Centenary Public School in Una — were arrested by the crime branch after lengthy investigations and questioning on Friday. While the arrested woman, who hails from Ferozepur in Punjab, was allegedly sent a copy of the leaked paper by Kumar, the police said. Kumar had been teaching economics at the DAV Centenary Public School for the last eight years. He was the centre superintendent of the Jawahar Navodaya Public School in Una, where the CBSE exams were being held. Amit Sharma and Ashok Kumar worked at the DAV school as a clerk and a peon respectively. The economics paper was leaked on March 23 - three days before the exam date - in Himachal Pradesh’s Una town and was shared on social networking site WhatsApp by at least 40 groups. The leak was exposed after an envelope containing four images of a hand-written copy of the question paper was delivered to the CBSE Headquarters in Delhi on the evening March 26, the day of the exam. On March 30, the Central Board of Secondary Education announced it would re-conduct the Class 12 economics exam throughout the country on April 25. The police had registered two cases in connection with the matter. The first case relating to the leak of the economics paper was filed on 27, while the other on the mathematics paper leak was lodged on March 28. The Delhi Police will address a press conference soon where it will share more details about the investigation, reported India Today. On Saturday, a Special Investigation Team of the Delhi Police had arrested Sharma along with a clerk and a support staff of a private school in Himachal Pradesh on charges of leaking the CBSE Class XII Economics paper. The SIT had found that the Economics paper was leaked in handwritten format two days prior to the exam held on 26 March. According to Delhi Police’s Special Commissioner RP Upadhyaya, Rakesh Kumar was working as a teacher in the school since 2010 and had been made Central Superintendent of CBSE Examination Centre in Una, where he was responsible of conducting board examination in at least three schools including Jawahar Narvodya school, since the last three years. “He had access to the Union Bank of India branch where sealed question papers were kept under his custody. It was his duty to further take these papers in schools,” Upadhyaya had said, adding that two days before the Class XII Economics paper, he, along with Sharma and Kumar went to collect the question paper of computer science but also took out the economics question paper from the bundle. While the other two took the computer science paper with them to the school, Sharma had clicked photos of the economics paper with his mobile and sent it through WhatsApp to his tuition student to prepare a hand-written copy, said the police officer. The teacher had put it back in the bundle and resealed it on the day of economics exam and since he was the superintendent, no one suspected him. Sharma had subsequently sent the handwritten Economics paper to his relative, whose son was appearing in the exam, in Chandigarh and this student sent it to a WhatsApp group, from which it was circulated in over 40 such groups from Chandigarh to Pune, Upadhyaya added. Sharma had later deleted the pictures of the question paper so as to remove proof of his involvement, the police officer said. However, a majority of the members of such groups did not take the handwritten question paper seriously but hundreds found it beneficial. “No monetary exchanges have been found so far in investigation. We are trying to ascertain how many question papers Rakesh Kumar and his associates had leaked so far. We are also examining the CCTV footage of the bank and the questioning with bank employees is underway,” he had added. Noting the SIT has worked out this case with the help of Cyber Cell and handwriting experts, Upadhyay had said that they will seek the trio’s police custody to interrogate them in connection with Class X Maths question paper leak," he said. He had said that the SIT has interrogated over 70 people, including WhatsApp admins, school teachers, ground staff, students and others to trace the leak’s point of origin and beneficiaries. “Finally on the basis of crucial clues and leads, the arrests were made from Himachal Pradesh,” Upadhyaya had said. DAV Centenary Public School principal Atul Mahajan had told IANS the police team came and questioned him about the paper leak, but since he was not directly associated with the exams and had authorised Rakesh Kumar to conduct them, the latter was arrested. “Police also collected certain documents from the school,” he had added. The investigators had sought the deleted chats and contexts shared by the group members and the WhatsApp admins amongst each others. Via an email to the WhatsApp Headquarters in California in the US, the team was able to revive the deleted conversation that cracked the case. The Central Board of Secondary Education academic unit at Rouse Avenue had on 26 March received some sheets of handwritten answers of Economics paper in a blank envelope before the exam commenced. On 1 April, three others, including two teachers of a convent school, were arrested in the case. With inputs from agencies