Mumbai Crime: After two paper leaks, third one surfaces in Bhiwandi

Though an NGO had informed the State Board about a possible racket in the area on March 14, the authorities registered a complaint only on March 20

If the State Board had filed a police complaint soon after an NGO informed them on March 14 about the presence of a possible paper-leak racket in Bhiwandi, then the leak of the History paper of the SSC examination on Wednesday could have been prevented. Three girls were caught with images of the question paper while they were entering the Taware School exam centre. Based on an FIR filed on March 20, and another one filed by the exam centre in-charge, this case would be investigated along with the earlier Algebra, Science I and II question paper leaks. The State Board had registered a complaint at the Bhiwandi Town police station after NGO Samvad Foundation informed them about the possible leaks of Algebra and Science question papers, which were available on WhatsApp minutes prior to the examinations.

Tuition teacher arrested

Cops have arrested a private tuition teacher in the case. Samvad had informed the Board office through an email and had also attached screenshots of the images of the circulated question papers. They had sent a number of emails to the Board office but there was no response from them. The authorities concerned finally registered a complaint on March 20 after the NGO tweeted the matter by tagging the Thane Police.

Cop says

Ankit Goyal, DCP Zone 3 Bhiwandi, said, "There are two FIRs in the case. We have arrested a private tuition teacher. We are trying to trace the backtrail of the images that were found on the phones of the three girls." Whistleblower Govind Sharma, founder and president of Samvad Foundation, said, "On March 14, I received images of the Algebra question paper, exam for which was held on March 11. Following this we also informed the Board about the possible leaks of Science I and II papers. We are happy to help, and hope that this racket is busted. However, the Board did delay the process by not approaching the police immediately." Secretary of Mumbai division of State Board, Sharad Khandagale, said, "The first email we received was very vague. After the second e-mail we started checking on our end too. We don't think it's a problem at a greater level. Maybe it's only limited to that specific area."

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