02-08-2025
Special OTET question paper leak: One more teacher held
CUTTACK: The Crime Branch of Odisha police on Friday arrested a teacher from Kalahandi district in connection with Special Odisha Teacher Eligibility Test (SOTET) question paper leak case.
The accused has been identified as Prasant Kumar Khamari (56) of Jenakhalpada under Bhawanipatna police station. With this, the total number of arrests in the case has gone up to seven.
Briefing mediapersons, Crime Branch DIG B Gangadhar said, the handwritten question papers of SOTET which were viral in different social media platforms were written by Khamari.
'Khamari, working as teacher in Government UP School at Bhejipadar in Bhawanipatna, had hatched a criminal conspiracy with Bijay Kumar Mishra, the working president of state ex-cadre teachers association Sanatan Bisoi, president of ex-cadre teachers association of Koraput district and other associates to orchestrate the crime.
He had translated the question papers obtained through data entry operator Jitan Moharana of Board of Secondary Education, Odisha, Cuttack, by using Google Translation application and wrote the computerised question papers in his own handwriting to screen the actual leaked paper,' said Gangadhar.
Besides, he enticed the gullible teachers who had failed in last Special OTET examination and sold the papers to make easy money. After collecting cash from teachers, he had transferred `99,000 through UPI to accused Bijay Kumar Mishra. Khamari's bank accounts are under verification, he informed.
The mobile phone of Khamari has been seized and sample handwriting has been taken in presence of witnesses which will be sent to Hand Writing Bureau and Cyber Forensic for examination and opinion. Further investigation is in progress to trace the links of other accused persons and find out their involvement in the case, he added.
