Telangana SSC question paper circulated on WhatsApp on second day too, 3 arrested

Addressing a late-night press conference to announce the arrest, police commissioner A V Ranganath said the leak was intended to create panic among students and parents and named BJP state president Bandi Sanjay as one of the recipients of the photographs of the question paper fraudulently taken by the accused. Denying a political conspiracy, he clarified that police were investigating further.

According to Ranganath, a minor entered the examination centre by climbing a tree and jumping off the compound wall. He clicked a photo of the question paper from the window on the first floor as his friend who was taking the exam assisted him. “He wanted to help his friend with answers,” Ranganath said.

The question paper was shared with the boy’s brother M Shiva Ganesh, 18, at 9.45 am Tuesday, 15 minutes after the examination commenced. The question paper was posted in a WhatsApp group named ‘SSC 2019-20’ at 9.59 am. One G Mahesh, a member of the group, then shared the paper with Booram Prashant, 28, a former news reporter, who then shared it with other groups with certain captions such as ‘breaking news’ and ‘question paper leaked on the second day too’ to create panic. The question paper was sent by Prashant to the BJP president at 11.24 am, Ranganath said. The police found that Prashant made 146 calls in an hour. Several photographs of Booram Prashanth standing beside Sanjay are being circulated online, suggesting a political conspiracy.

The commissioner said the incident could not be called a paper leak as photographs of the question paper were sent out after the exam began and there was no way the answers made it back to the hall to aid any student or even allow mass copying. The Kamalapur police registered an FIR under Section 5 of the Telangana Public Examinations (Prevention of Malpractice and Unfair Means) Act. Their mobile phones were seized and examined. The police were yet to arrest Mahesh.

Following the inquiry by the police commissioner and the district collector, the director of the School Education Department. A Sridevasena, termed the incident as a case of malpractice. The student M Shiva Kumar, who helped his friend take a photograph of the paper as the exam was progressing, was debarred from appearing for the SSC examinations for five years. The chief superintendent of the school, M Shiva Prasad, and department officer T Sridhar were suspended with a departmental inquiry ordered against them. The exam invigilator Sabiya Madahath was removed from service as she failed in her duties.

Similarly, school assistants S Bendeppa and Sammappa, who were found directly involved in the question paper leak on day one of the SSC examinations, were also removed from service, the director stated.

Education Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy and senior minister Talasani Srinivas Yadav have blamed the BJP for the SSC question paper leak. While they said the incidents are aimed at damaging the state government’s reputation, Sanjay maintained that the police had targeted Prashant, a reporter, for exposing the government’s failures.

pic.twitter.com/rUOUvCcRaw

— Sabitha Reddy (@BrsSabithaIndra) April 4, 2023

In a tweet, the education minister said, “I am informing you that we will work responsibly, keeping in mind the future of 4.95 lakh students. The government will take strict action against anyone who tries to confuse the students who are writing the board exams for the first time. We request everyone to put political interests and personal interests aside in the matter of exams.”

The minister, who held a video conference with officials, assured the parents and students that the sanctity of the exams had not been compromised in any manner and that the exams would continue to be conducted as per schedule. Four more exams were scheduled for April 6, 8, 10, and 11.