AMN
A principal of the school in Mumbra, from where SSC exam papers allegedly leaked and where the main accused was employed, is currently being interrogated in connection with the probe into the case.
Police said they have observed several irregularities in the functioning of the school in which main accused Firoz Khan worked. The leak of the SSC Board exam paper of History and Political Science (Part 1) was revealed on March 20 after the exam invigilator of a school in Andheri noticed some students constantly referring to their notes and mobile phones outside the exam hall.
On checking the phones of these students, the invigilator found that the paper, scheduled for the day, had been leaked. On being alerted about the matter, Amboli police arrested three persons, including Khan, the same day.
A case was registered under the Information Technology Act and Maharashtra University Act.
The Amboli police had booked the eight SSC students, all aged 15, on Monday after the History & Political Science papers were found on their phones minutes before the exam. Along with the students, a maths teacher at a Mumbra school, Firoz Khan (47); a tuition teacher, Rohit Singh (24); Khan’s office boy Imran Shaikh (45); and an IT engineering student, A Hasan (22), were also booked for the leak.
While the adults were arrested and sent to police custody, the teenagers were allowed to appear for the remaining papers. The exams concluded on Friday and soon after, the police apprehended the students and sent them to an observation home in Dongri.
The students will have to spend the night at the home and their parents can appeal for bail on Saturday when they will be produced before the Juvenile Justice Board.
Subhash Borse, secretary in charge of the board’s Mumbai division, said, “The students, even though minors, have made a conscious decision to participate in the wrongdoings. So the law must take its own course.” The Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education has decided to institute an internal committee that will probe into the SSC question paper-leak racket and bar students who are involved from taking board exams for the next three to five attempts.