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OTET paper leak: Crime Branch to take BSE vice-president on remand

OTET paper leak: Crime Branch to take BSE vice-president on remand

CUTTACK: The Crime Branch of Odisha Police will take on remand three of the eight accused including BSE vice-president Nihar Ranjan Mohanty for further interrogation in connection with the Special Odisha Teacher Eligibility Test (OTET) question paper leak case.
The two others are data entry operator Jitan Moharana and working president of the state ex-cadre teachers' association Bijaya Mishra. The trio will be interrogated further to elicit more information and ascertain the involvement of other BSE officials.
The Crime Branch will also go through the Board's standard operating procedure (SOP) and protocols with respect to conducting examinations, to ascertain other higher officials' accountability for their violation.
As per sources, some other officials including a woman who works as a data entry operator in the vice-president's office, are also under CB scanner in connection with the question paper leak case.
Even though the BSE vice-president, who was involved in preparing and overseeing printing of the question papers, came to know about the question paper leak on July 19 night, he had not lodged FIR with the police in this regard. BSE president Srikant Tarai too, was silent on the matter. It was the Board's establishment officer Bulbul Behera who had lodged a complaint with CID(CB) on July 20 following which investigation was undertaken.
This is not the first time that the special OTET question papers have been leaked. Similar incidents had happened in the past but the Board authorities never lodged any complaint apparently to cover up the irregularities in conduct of the examination, some BSE officials alleged.
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