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Journalism of Courage
When police first knocked on Atmaram Labades door in Karjat,he assumed the police had approached his son to help them crack the paper leaks case. Later,it dawned that they were probing his 25-year-son Kiran Labades alleged role in the leaks. Atmaram now sees a conspiracy behind the arrest of his son. Police approached us and we co-operated. My son was questioned. It nowhere seemed my son will be trapped in the case, he said.
Most people who run engineering colleges here have political contacts. Other accused,including a college professor,were rounded up by police. They needed a connecting link to prove the paper was leaked to students,so they rounded up innocent students, said Atmaram.
His son was granted permission to appear for his Chemistry-I (ATKT) examination on Saturday,will have to pass the exam to secure his engineering degree.
It is his last chance to take ATKT exam, Atmaram said,adding,My other son studying in Pune has been in shock since Kirans arrest. It is not easy on a family to see their young son embroiled in a case he is not involved in.
Kiran has been in police custody since June 5.
According to the police,Kiran,who hails from Badlapur,studied at Yadavrao Tasgaonkar Institute of Engineering and Managemnet (YTIEM) in Karjat and was friends with two students,Divakar Talekar and Sunil Mohite,who have also been arrested in the case.
Talekar allegedly managed to get the leaked papers,Applied Maths II and applied Physics-II from lab assistant Bharat Singh and allegedly made it available to Labade. The police claim Labade e-mailed a copy to another accused and a lab-assistant at YTIEM,who passed it on to other accused arrested in the case. The Crime Branch has arrested 16 persons in the case.
YTIEM college has in the past,too,come under the scanner in a similar case. Most appointments here are through political contacts,and professors and other staff take their posts for granted. Paper leak is rampant. But now,when the police tracked the accused down,students too are being targeted. I can vouch for my son at least. Others are involved or not,I am not aware. But my son has been falsely implicated, Atmaram said.
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