GSHSEB Hindi paper leak: One in police custody, 1 more held

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The case pertains to the appearance of a solved question paper of the Class 10 GSHSEB Hindi examination on social media nearly half an hour before the exam concluded Saturday.

According to the FIR lodged by a GSHSEB zonal officer, Patel had contacted Taviyad, his former student, to help him procure a copy of the question paper of the Hindi examination held Saturday to help co-accused Suresh Dalsinh Damor. Damor, whose son Chirag was appearing for the exam, had established contact with Patel.

On Monday, Patel, Damor and two other accused were produced before the local court where the police sought remand based on the ground that the entire link of the paper leak needed a thorough investigation. The police also told the court that it was a matter of investigation to check if the accused had committed the crime for a larger benefit and if more persons were involved in seeking the leaked question paper.

The police, especially, emphasised the role of Patel and Taviyad, who seem to have been the two individuals to access the paper. Taviyad, who was arrested Monday, was the one to first share the solved question paper with Damor at the insistence of Patel at 10.40 am, shortly after the examination commenced, the police told the court.

Investigating Officer Police Sub-inspector BR Sangada told this newspaper that they will probe how Taviyad accessed the question paper within minutes of the commencement of the examination and was also able to solve the questions and circulate the paper. “We are yet to determine if Taviyad was already motivated to procure the question paper and if he had it before the examination began… We will also probe if he was working on leaking the paper for other interested persons as well,” PSI Sangada said.

The FIR states that the complainant, GSHSEB zonal officer Lalsinh Gavsinh Dangi, had received information that the question paper along with the answers was posted on a social media page of one of the accused Ghanshyam Charel — who runs a printing shop in Sanjeli — at 1.48 pm, about half an hour before the exam ended.

During the primary investigation, it was established that Charel had received the paper from Damor through a message on his mobile phone at 11.52 am.

On being questioned, Damor had told the officials that his son, Chirag, was appearing for the SSC exams and in order to help him with the Hindi examination, Damor had contacted Patel, who in turn, had contacted Taviyad.

Damor then contacted his friend, Jayesh Dalsinh Damor from Sanjeli to help print the paper. Jayesh Damor contacted Charel, who runs a printing shop in Sanjeli, and shared the photo of the question paper to help take a printout for Damor, the FIR states. All the five accused have been booked for knowingly making public a confidential question paper of the state board examination.

The accused have been booked under various sections of the Indian Penal Code for criminal breach of trust (406), criminal breach of trust in respect of property entrusted to the accused in his capacity of a public servant (409), abettor present when offence is committed (114) as well as Sections of the Information Technology Act for penalty for breach of confidentiality and privacy (72), and Punishment for disclosure of information in breach of lawful contract [72 (A)].