Paper leak in UP Class XII Board exam, 17 held

The UP government has ordered a probe by the Special Task Force (STF) with Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath ordering the police to invoke stringent National Security Act (NSA) against the accused.

“The English exam, which was set to begin at 2 pm during the second shift on Wednesday, has been cancelled over paper leak. The exam has been cancelled in 24 districts, where the leaked set of the question paper was distributed,” a statement issued by UP Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad Director Vinay Kumar Pandey said, adding examinations will be held as per schedule in other districts.

The districts where the examination has been cancelled were Ballia, Etah, Baghpat, Budaun, Sitapur, Kanpur Dehat, Lalitpur, Chitrakoot, Pratapgarh, Gonda, Azamgarh, Agra, Varanasi, Mainpuri, Mathura, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Shamli, Shahjahanpur, Unnao, Jalaun, Mahoba, Ambedkarnagar and Gorakhpur.

“One out of two sets of the question paper was leaked, Therefore, the examination went on as per schedule in the remaining 51 districts of the state,” said an official.

The examination in the 24 districts has now been rescheduled to April 13, from 8 am to 11.15 am.

Following the cancellation of the exam, the government ordered the suspension of Ballia DIOS Brijesh Mishra.

“Varanasi’s STF unit is carrying out the probe… Depending on the probe’s findings, we may expand the investigation,” Additional Director General (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar said.

A statement issued by Ballia police said that three cases have been lodged at three different police stations – Kotwali, Nagra and Sikandarpur in connection with the paper leak. The FIRs have been filed under IPC section 420 (cheating), and under UP Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 1998 and Information Technology Act,” police said.

On how the paper leak came to light, ADG Kumar said, “The district police chief and district magistrate of Ballia came to know that the paper was leaked. They then informed higher officials and action was taken,” the ADG said.

A senior official in the UP Board said that the leaked question paper was also circulated on social media. “Once the paper was leaked, it was circulated to others through WhatsApp and other messaging applications,” said the official.

The state Board has released helpline numbers and email addresses for students and parents. Students can write to upboardexam2022@gmail.com, or can get in touch with officials on Facebook (Upboard Exam) and Twitter (@upboardexam2022) if they have any doubt, a senior official said.

This year, heavy security and elaborate preparations have been made to curb cheating and use of unfair means during the examinations that began last Thursday.