CBSE paper leak: Two teachers, tutor held for leaks

Police arrested on Sunday two teachers of a private school and a coaching centre tutor from Delhi for leaking CBSE's Class XII economics questions that has forced 5 lakh students to resit their exam on April 25. The paper was held on March 26.

Police are also probing leaks of the Board's Class X maths test that 17 lakh students took on March 28. This exam, if needed, will be held in July in Delhi and Haryana were the leaks were apparently restricted.

CBSE suspended, KS Rana, in-charge of the Delhi centre from where questions were leaked, following the directions of Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar. An inquiry has been initiated.

The two teachers, Rishabh and Rohit, reached the school in Northwest Delhi's Bawana two hours before their reporting time on the day of the economic exam, police said.

They typed the questions on their phones and sent to the tutor, Tauqeer, via WhatsApp 30 minutes before the scheduled opening of packets, police said. Tauqeer sent the questions to his students. A total of 915 students opened and saw the message.

Rishabh and Rohit were identified as teachers of maths and physics, respectively, at Mother Khazani Convent School. Tauqeer teaches economics.

So far, police have questioned 70 people, including students, parents and teachers, and seized 50 mobile phones for forensic tests to crack the case that has sparked protests and political slugfest.

Police have identified six WhatsApp groups with 50-60 members each suspected to be involved in the scandal, the biggest to have hit India's top education body, also putting pressure on the Centre to defend itself over digital security.

The three, arrested by the Crime Branch in an early morning operation, are suspected to be mere pawns in a big syndicate. A team led by Joint Commissioner of Police Alok Kumar arrested the trio after raids in Bawana. Police will question them for two days.

Cops are tracking the money trail and their links, possibly in Jharkhand where police have arrested three persons and detained nine minors.

Tauqeer was the first to be picked up as police scrutinised WhatsApp groups used to circulate questions. His arrest followed information from a student who said he had received questions from Tauqeer. He named the two teachers.

Police questioned on Friday Delhi University graduate Vikram Wadhwa alias Vicky, who runs Vidya Coaching Centre in Central Delhi's Rajinder Nagar, and the CBSE's exam controller. About 10 coaching centres were raided on Thursday.

On Wednesday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi phoned Union Human Resource Development (HRD) Minister Prakash Javadekar, conveyed his unhappiness and called for strict action.

This is a second such case to have been reported in a fortnight. The class XII accountancy question paper was also allegedly leaked on WhatsApp, hours before the examination began on March 15, a claim CBSE had denied but promised police action and an investigation. But no retest took place in that case. CBSE papers are crucial for students hoping to secure admission in some of India's most prestigious public universities.

CBSE and police knew about potential leaks but did not do enough to spare about 22 lakh students the ordeal of retests.

CBSE Chairman Anita Karwal had received an e-mail at 1:39 am on Wednesday, about nine hours before the maths exam was to begin, with 12 images of handwritten questions.

Also, one Chandan Gupta had approached the Delhi police after he received, via WhatsApp, nine maths questions at 10.40 pm on Tuesday itself.

CBSE had also received a complaint by fax at 4.22 pm on Friday from an 'unknown source' that Vicky was involved in leaks.

CBSE again received at 6 pm on Monday an unaddressed envelope containing four sheets of handwritten answers of the economics paper.