Teacher from Kalahandi held for OTET paper leak; total arrests 7
The arrested teacher was identified as Prasant Kumar Khamari (56).
Khamari, from Kalahandi district, had a significant role in translating the leaked question papers from English to Odia. He obtained the questions from Jitan Moharana, a previously arrested employee of the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), which set the question papers for in-service teachers.
"After writing the translated questions and answers in Odia on plain paper, Khamari reached out to potential buyers among in-service teachers.
Financial investigation revealed that he transferred about Rs 99,000 via UPI to Bijay Kumar Mishra, a teacher arrested on Wednesday," DIG (crime branch), B Gangadhar, said.
Investigations revealed that Mishra had approached Moharana and instigated him to steal the question papers. Moharana allegedly stole the questions from BSE vice-president Nihar Ranjan Mohanty's laptop, crime branch officers said.
The test, scheduled for July 20, was postponed after questions and potential answers began circulating on social media the previous day.
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The investigating agency discovered that the accused collected around Rs 20,000 from each recipient of the leaked questions. Over 200 in-service teachers, who had previously failed OTET, purchased the leaked questions.
The crime branch is investigating the alleged negligence of the BSE vice-president. "We have so far not found any criminal liability against him but we are trying to find out how Moharana managed to access the vice-president's laptop," Gangadhar said.
School and mass education minister Nityananda Gond said that legal action would be taken against those found guilty. "Our govt has a zero tolerance policy against crime and corruption. The crime branch is thoroughly investigating the case. Regardless of the positions held by the accused, severe legal action will be enforced," the minister said.
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