CBSE paper leak: ‘Night before, mail to CBSE sought exam cancellation’

The second FIR in the paper leak case states that the sender had, in the mail, requested the Board to cancel the exam claiming that the paper was leaked, The Indian Express has learnt.

According to sources in CBSE, Wednesday’s exam was not cancelled as the authorities feared a “law and order” situation. (Express photo by Abhinav Saha)

The night before the CBSE Class X Mathematics examination was supposed to be held, the CBSE had received a mail containing pictures of a handwritten question set. The second FIR in the paper leak case states that the sender had, in the mail, requested the Board to cancel the exam claiming that the paper was leaked, The Indian Express has learnt.

As per the FIR, the CBSE chairman had received a mail on his official email ID at 1.39 am on March 28, just hours before the students were set to take the exams in the morning. “The e-mail contained 12 JPG attachments of handwritten question papers for Mathematics. The sender claimed that the Mathematics paper was leaked on WhatsApp. He also requested: ‘please cancel tomorrow Maths paper’,” states the FIR, lodged the same day, after the CBSE sent a complaint to the Delhi Police Crime Branch.

The first FIR in the CBSE question paper leak case was registered on March 27, following two complaints from the Board alleging that the Economics paper of Class XII had been leaked. According to sources in CBSE, Wednesday’s exam was not cancelled as the authorities feared a “law and order” situation.

Story continues below this ad

Sources said that the Crime Branch has asked the Board to share the complete content and details of the email. According to Crime Branch officials, both the question papers were leaked a day before the exams. “We have questioned at least 25 persons, including 11 schoolchildren, seven college students, five private tutors and two individuals,” said Special Commissioner of Police (crime) R P Upadhyaya. In the evening, police questioned nine more people.

Upadhyaya said that some tutors had received the question papers on WhatsApp, and made their students solve them. “Of the five tutors, some teach at home while others are employed at coaching centres. We also questioned first-year college students, who allegedly passed on the papers to their juniors or friends,” he said.

Police sources said that of those questioned, one is a businessman from Punjabi Bagh area, who had allegedly taken money to circulate the paper among students. Police said he was missing till Tuesday but he joined the investigation Wednesday evening.

Crime Branch sources said they have also questioned a tutor, Vicky, who was named in the first FIR. However, they have not got any fruitful lead yet. “We have not given a clean chit to anyone. Over the next few days, more people will be called to join the probe,” said Upadhyaya.

Story continues below this ad

Vicky, a commerce graduate from Delhi University, has been running a coaching centre in Rajinder Nagar since 1994. He has over 400 students taking his tution. Vicky’s brother, Vimal Malhotra, said, “We are cooperating with the police. I don’t know why his name has cropped up in this case,” he said.

Meanwhile, three seniors CBSE officials, including an examination controller, shared inputs with Crime Branch on Thursday regarding the leaks. Police sources said they will soon summon CBSE officials for questioning as well.

Stay updated with the latest - Click here to follow us on Instagram