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The SSC paper leak case this year probably has a first — parents of some students are under the police scanner for allegedly buying the question paper for their children. Following preliminary investigations, the cops are likely to pick up some of the parents in the case. Surprisingly, the students who received the papers are academically bright and there is no reason for them to indulge in such an act, the police said.

A police source close to the investigations revealed, "We noticed that students had received these papers and that their parents, too, were aware about it and vice versa in some cases. We have also got the names of a few parents who have bought these question papers for their children. Also, the students who bought these question papers have taken the money from their parents after telling them the reason for it."

Career Classes in Bhiwandi, whose owner, Wazir Rehman Shaikh, allegedly sent out question papers on WhatsApp

On Wednesday, two police stations in Bhiwandi registered separate paper leak FIRs. The first case was registered at Bhiwandi City police station earlier in the day by Govind Sharma, founder of Samvad Foundation, an NGO. He alerted the board after he and several of his colleagues received the History paper on their phones at 10.10 am; the exams begin at 11 am. The police have already arrested Wazir Rehman Shaikh, owner of Career Classes, from Bhiwandi, for sending out the papers on Whatsapp.

Later in the day, the Narpoli police filed an FIR on the complaint of a teacher after three girl students were found discussing the History and Political Science papers on WhatsApp. Preliminary investigations in both cases has put some parents in the dock.

The leaked question papers that were circulated via whatsapp

Questioning everyone
When contacted, DCP Zone-II Ankit Goel said, "We are questioning everyone right from students to their parents. It is part of our investigation to know each one's role in order to reach the main culprit."

He added, "There is a complete trail. We have arrested one accused who is not the main accused in this case, but with his help we are trying to reach the mastermind. We are going back to every message for this. We need a few more days to investigate and reach the main accused who took the photos of the question papers."

The cops are closely monitoring the images circulated on the WhatsApp group and are analysing the photographs to reach the main accused in this case. In both the cases, the paper was leaked from Bhiwandi an hour before the exam. It indicates that someone from the centre had clicked the photos and sent it to students who then forwarded it further, a police officer said.

Paper leak trail
The police are checking every step of the question papers' journey and where exactly in the process it got leaked. The question papers are usually transported from the divisional office to custodies in each area a day before the exams. In the Mumbai division, there are 75 custodies, which are in schools, where the paper reaches a day in advance amid tight security. Depending on the distance between the custody and the exam centre, papers are sent off on the day of the exams to their respective centres. Examiners then break the question paper seal and distribute the papers to students 10 minutes before the exam starts to give students time to read it.

The two cases
On Wednesday morning, the Bhiwandi police registered an FIR under the Information Technology Act under the IPC as well as the Maharashtra Prevention of Malpractices at University, Board and Other Specified Examinations Act after receiving a complaint from the Mumbai divisional board.
The same night they made one arrest.

Later that day, the board's flying squad caught three girl students with mobile phones seated inside an autorickshaw. They were in the vehicle despite the last bell being sounded to enter the exam hall.

"The students were supposed to be in the exam hall by 10.15am. They had History and Political Science papers. A day before, they had created a group called 'Toppers' and in the morning they circulated the question papers. We have seized their phones and six others who received these papers. These girls seem to be toppers," said MB Shinde, senior inspector of Narpoli police station in Bhiwandi.

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Learn the art of making paper from scratch at this workshop by Bengaluru-based artist Ravikumar Kashi, who expresses himself via mediums like paintings, sculptures and photography. Kashi learnt the art of making paper from the Glasgow School of Art, UK, before he moved on to learning Hanji, a traditional Korean papermaking form.

Participants will learn the history of hand-made papermaking and the difference between pr­imary, secondary, te­r­tiary and second-ha­nd paper. "They will be taken through techniques of how to make recycled paper from di­s­carded paper, how to shape it into different forms and make sculptures. They will also learn pulp painting, where coloured pulp is used to create art," Kashi shares.

ON March 30, 10 am
AT Piramal Museum of Art, Piramal Tower, Peninsula Corporate Park, Lower Parel
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Question papers of two subjects of the SSC (Class X) exam conducted by the Maharashtra State Board were found leaked at Bhiwandi in Thane district of Maharashtra on Wednesday, police said. A case was registered at Narpoli police station against an unidentified person in this connection. "As per the complaint filed by a state board official, examination of history and political science subjects was scheduled to take place on Wednesday," senior inspector M B Shinde of Narpoli police station said on Thursday.

"For the exam that was to start at 11 am, students were expected to be in the exam hall by 10.15 am. However, outside an exam centre at Kalher in Bhiwandi, the board official found some girl students checking their mobile phones inside an autorickshaw," he added. When the official checked their phones, he found the question papers of history and political science subjects. "The girls had received these question papers through a messaging application. When the actual question papers were tallied with those on the mobiles, they were found to be the same," Shinde added.

A case was registered under IPC section 406 (criminal breach of trust) and section 72 of the Information Technology Act, police said, adding that nobody has been arrested in this connection so far. According to police, question papers of algebra, geometry and science subjects were also allegedly leaked in Bhiwandi earlier. The state board's secondary school certificate (SSC) exam began on March 1. 

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The Aurangabad bench of the Bombay High Court on Monday pulled up the state for its claim that the novel Coronavirus could spread through newspapers. The state had, accordingly, banned the distribution of newspapers, while allowing its printing. The court, in an order dated April 20, directed the state to justify its claims with evidence and expert opinions instead of meagre statements.

A suo moto public interest litigation (PIL) in this regard was filed at the Nagpur bench of HC after the distribution ban was announced on April 18.

Government pleader DR Kale told the court that the order was amended on April 21 to allow "door-to-door distribution except in MMR, Pune, and other containment zones."

While Kale said that the virus stayed on surfaces for a while, and hence newspapers could be potential carriers when passed from hand-to-hand, the court said that there was no evidence to prove this.

It, however, added that door-to-door delivery could be restricted in some areas while asking the government to respond to its queries along with a report by amicus curiae advocate Satyajeet Bora.

The next date of hearing in the case is June 11.

11 June
Date of the next hearing in the case

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