Assam SEBA HSLC Class 10 Paper Leak: Two Teachers Identified As Masterminds, Says DGP

Guwahati: Assam Director General of Police G P Singh on Friday said that two teachers have been identified as the masterminds of the  SEBA HSLC Class 10 question paper leak. One of them has been detained, while the other, who was absconding, surrendered before police during the day, the DGP said. “We have been able to establish the chain of events leading to the leak of the question papers and circulation. We have enough physical evidence with us in the case,” Singh told a press conference.

Singh said the headteacher and centre in-charge of Luhit Khabalu High School of Majuli, Pranab Dutta, is one of the main accused and was detained from the island district on Thursday. “He will be arrested today and produced before a local court, and brought to the CID headquarters here for further questioning,” the DGP said. The other mastermind, Kumud Rajkhowa, a teacher of Daflakata High School in Lakhimpur, surrendered in the afternoon, police spokesperson Prasanta Kumar Bhuyan said.

Singh also said remnants of burnt question papers have been recovered from the house of Dutta, and those are being sent for forensic examination.

Altogether, 27 arrests have been made so far and another four detained, including Dutta, he said. He added that the CID is gathering more technical evidence, like details of social media interactions and monetary transactions through e-wallets.

Days after the general science question paper leak of the Class 10 state board exam, the Assamese paper also got leaked, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had said on Thursday evening. The general science question paper was leaked on Sunday night.

Meanwhile, Assam Education Minister Ranoj Pegu today announced that the board exam for Class 10 Modern Indian Language subjects will now be conducted on April 1. Pegu made the announcement on his official Twitter handle.

 

SEBA has rescheduled the exam of all MIL/English (IL) subjects on 1st April, 2023. Earlier, it was scheduled to be held on 18 March, 2023.@himantabiswa ⁦@CMOfficeAssam⁩ pic.twitter.com/2jcQrfVJaC — Ranoj Pegu (@ranojpeguassam) March 17, 2023

 

An official notification issued by the Assam government said, “This is to notify all to all concerned that in view of the ongoing Police investigation regarding the leakage of the Question paper of the HSLC Examination 2023, and in order to avoid holding of examination of MIL subjects in a comprised situation, the Board of Secondary Education, Assam has decided to reschedule the Examination of MIL / English (IL) subjects earlier scheduled to be held on 18th March 2023.”