6 min readPuneMar 20, 2026 09:35 AM IST
First published on: Mar 19, 2026 at 08:00 AM IST
Two days before 50 question papers of the SSC Geography examination were stolen from a strong room at Sangola Vidyamandir and Junior College near Solapur, there had already been an attempted break-in at the same location. No action was taken.
On March 18, even after the theft was discovered, the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education went ahead with the examination because, according to Audumbar Ukirde, Chairperson of the Pune Divisional Board, there was no evidence the papers had reached students or been circulated on social media.
On March 15, Block Education Officer Suyog Navale noticed black marks around the lock of a room adjacent to the actual strong room. “The robbers would not have known where the papers were stored,” he told The Indian Express. No papers were missing that day. Block Education Officer Suyog Navale informed the home guard present at the location — and stopped there. Senior police officials were not informed. Education authorities were not informed. The police station, Ukirde would later note, was just 200 to 300 metres away.
Two days later, the strong room itself was broken into. Two sets containing 50 question papers were stolen. An FIR was registered against an unidentified person. The Board decided the exam would go on.
By the evening of March 18, Sangola Police said the case had been cracked. In a press note, the police station said that based on confidential information and technical evidence, it was revealed that the crime was committed by a minor. Questioned in the presence of his parents, the child confessed to the crime. An electric cutter, an electric motorcycle, the stolen question papers and three blank answer sheets were seized. Further investigation is underway.
Gaikwad, Navale and police constable Nagnath Wakitol — who was not present at the school when the theft took place — have since been suspended.
A chain of failures
That a minor was able to break into the strong room twice in two days points to the series of failures that preceded the theft.
Navale said he informed the home guard after noticing signs of the attempted break-in on March 15. “As nothing happened to the custody I did not inform the education authorities. Nothing had happened to the sticker seal as well, it was completely safe. The home guard clicked photos of the scene and sent it to his senior. The home guard said that he would sleep near the door, but he went somewhere else and slept,” he said.
Ukirde was unambiguous about what should have happened. “If he had informed the police station it would have been taken seriously at that point itself. But he just told the home guard. The police constable also did not inform his seniors. Further, the home guard is supposed to sleep outside the custody room. However he did not do so and slept at another place. The police constable was also supposed to be present there but he was not. That is why he has been suspended.” he said.
Additional Superintendent of Police Pritam Yawalkar confirmed that the constable had not informed higher officials about the March 15 attempt.
Gaikwad defended his own suspension. “Sangola Vidyamandir as an examination centre is separate and the strong room given for custody of question papers at our campus is separate. The strong room comes under the Block Education Officer and he is supposed to follow the rules. I am supposed to take care of the examination centre rules, so how am I at fault?” he said.
64 cameras, switched off
All 64 CCTV cameras at the school were switched off when the theft took place — a second failure the Board has attributed to Gaikwad and Navale. But Gaikwad says he had flagged the problem weeks earlier. The school’s 15 TB hard disk could not sustain 24-hour recording from 64 cameras — consuming approximately 1 TB daily — across the entire exam season.
“I informed this to the District Education Officer Sachin Jagtap. He orally told me that I can turn the cameras on during the examinations only. He said that the decision lies with me. Getting another hard disk would cost over Rs 40,000. So we decided that the cameras would be turned on from 9:30 to 2:30 during the examination hours,” Gaikwad said.
A February 17 letter from MSBSHSE had instructed examination centres to turn on CCTV cameras 30 minutes before examinations. Ukirde said the Board had also informed custody centres through video conferences that cameras at paper store rooms were to remain on 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The school’s cameras were off when the papers disappeared.
“No evidence the paper was shared”
Ukirde explained the Board’s decision to proceed with the examination despite the theft. “We declare a paper leak when many people get their hands on it. Additional SP Solapur, Deputy SP, and Police Inspector, and I were at the location. Forensic team of the police was also there. They verified if the paper was shared on social media. All xerox centres were visited and we checked if anyone had made copies of the question paper. No such incident was recorded yesterday. Further, we checked student WhatsApp groups, be it school groups, tuition groups, etc. If the paper is shared even on one group then it is shared on many groups. However, this did not happen. Keeping this in mind, we decided to conduct the paper as scheduled. If it was found that the paper was shared on social media or Xerox copies were made, then we would have postponed the exam,” he said.
All 64 CCTV cameras at the school were switched off when the theft took place — a second failure the Board has attributed to Gaikwad and Navale. 
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