Probe into PU paper leak points at insiders

Although officers investigating the leak of second PU question papers are yet to get a breakthrough, the leads they have got so far have got them believing that some officials from the education department are the key culprits.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and Central Crime Branch (CCB) police are investigating . An investigating officer said they were sure about the involvement of the education department officials. He said groups of the department officials were blaming each other for the incident. A senior CID officer said they had questioned some lecturers and employees of private and government colleges, besides the middlemen. The CID had formed three teams to solve the case.

Meanwhile, the CCB sleuths are looking for nine persons. They have already arrested three persons after cases were filed at Girinagar and Malleswaram police stations. An investigating officer said neither the three arrested persons nor the nine absconding ones were the main accused; they were guilty of selling the question paper after obtaining it from middlemen.

The  official said the accused fled from their homes and switched off their mobile phones.

 Some retired officials of the education department are also of the view that question papers could not have been leaked without the participation of insiders. A former official who held senior position in the education department said a few officials had been serving for 20 years, indicating that they might be wielding enough clout to get the paper leaked.  A retired official, who formerly held a senior position,   said the question paper leak is impossible without the involvement of the officials who have been entrusted their responsibility.

Prabhakar Kore, chairperson, KLE Group of Institutions, denied that private institutes could be behind the leak. He asked how anyone attached to a private college could leak the paper without colluding with insiders of the education department.