When the 26-year-old coaching teacher was approached to solve a leaked SSC paper, he refused and launched his own investigation instead
Illustration/Ravi Jadhav
The whistleblower behind the SSC paper leak is none other than a 26-year-old tutor who collected evidence through WhatsApp and his students against those running the ring, after he was tricked into solving an Algebra paper. The tutor smelled a rat on March 11 — the day of the Algebra paper — after a woman he has known for a few years asked him to solve a paper of the same subject.
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Speaking to mid-day, the tutor said, "On March 11, I received a call from a woman I've known for the past few years, as she used to take classes. She'd sent me the algebra paper at 9:30 am and asked me to solve it quickly and send it back to her. I called her to ask what that was about and why she needed the answers that quickly. She asked me to not waste my time and help her out once. So, I solved the paper and sent it back to her."
Another favour
"On the next day, she sent images of a geometry question paper at 10 am and asked for the favour once again. I was so shocked; I was wondering about how people were getting these papers. Immediately, I called her and asked where she got it from, to which she said, 'These papers are with so many people and students. Do not overreact; just help me. You also pass it on to your students.' I cut the call and blocked her."
After he got the Geometry paper, the tutor got suspicious and got his hands on evidence of Std X students discussing the final exam papers
After this incident, he started searching about the SSC paper leak. He added, "I asked students in my tuition classes whether they were getting such papers. Two of them said that their friends were getting them prior to the exam. I checked all of their WhatsApp chats, where the students were discussing the time the paper would be leaked before the exam. I could not understand anything and approached social worker Govindji [of Samvad Foundation], who later tweeted about the same and informed police."
Kept going viral
He added, "For almost four days, the board did not respond to the problem and question papers kept going viral before the exams. I have kept a record of each question paper, at what time children from different schools were getting them, how they were learning it by rote just an hour before the exam. Some of them even made chits. When police approached me, I gave them all the information I had, after which they immediately filed the FIR." DCP Ankit Goel said, "This person [whistleblower] has definitely helped us in revealing the scam going on in Bhiwandi. So many people knew about this but no one came forward except him. We should appreciate such youngsters."
Several people involved
Speaking about the how the ring operated, a police officer said, "The woman got the paper from main accused Wazir Shaikh for Rs 5,000. She wanted this paper to help her nephew pass the SSC exam with good marks. With the help of information given by her, and the trail of messages, we arrested Shaikh and the head of the operation, Amber Ansari. There are several people involved between them, including parents."
Ansari, who used to get the papers two hours before the exam, made the mistake of putting the paper on the dashboard of his car as he photographed it. The police team went through several online videos and images of cars and got to know that the car is made by Hyundai.
They laid a trap near two exam centres, the Padmashree Annasaheb Jadhav school and Konkan Muslim Education Society. There, they found an Eon car which had the same features as the car seen in the photo. They followed the car and nab the accused, which turned out to be Ansari. Sources said cops are now looking at how much the accused charged for every paper. There were differing amounts for all, and algebra and geometry were more expensive than others.
March 11
Day the tutor got the Algebra paper that he solved and returned to the sender
Also Read: Mumbai: Maharashtra Board teachers demand more time to correct 350 SSC exam papers
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