E-Paper
UP Board: Class 12 English exam cancelled in 24 districts after question paper leak, Ballia DIOS among 17 arrested
Chief minister for NSA against those involved, probe handed over to STF; the cancelled exam will now be held on April 13 in the 24 affected districts
The class 12 English language exam of the Uttar Pradesh secondary education board was cancelled in 24 districts of the state after the question paper was leaked in Ballia district of eastern UP s before the start of the test on Wednesday.
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath directed officials that the stringent National Security Act (NSA) be slapped against those involved in the leak and ordered the Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh Police to probe the matter, an official said.
Ballia district inspector of schools (DIOS) Brijesh Mishra and 16 others were arrested in connection with FIRs registered in connection with the paper leak, additional director general of police (law and order) Prashant Kumar said. More arrests were likely, he added. The DIOS was also suspended, according to a UP government communique.
The government went ahead with the test in the remaining 51 districts. The English language exam in the affected 24 districts would now be held on April 13, a UP government spokesperson said in a communiqué.
“The chief minister has taken a strong view of the paper leak. District inspector of schools (DIOS)-Ballia Brijesh Kumar Mishra has been suspended with immediate effect. Special Task Force (STF) has been handed over the probe into the paper leak. NSA would be invoked against whoever is found guilty in this connection,” a UP government communiqué said.
Secondary education minister Gulab Devi said the UP government has taken a serious view of the paper leak incident and all those who would be found involved would be seriously dealt with.
The Special Task Force (STF) has been pressed in to investigate the paper leak, ADG Kumar confirmed.
Kumar said the charges under National Security Act (NSA) will be slapped against the culprits if required.
The move is in line with the state government’s warning before the start of the UP Board exam to slap the stringent NSA if anyone is found involved in a question paper leak.
The UP Board intermediate (class 12) and high school (class 10) exams began on March 24.
Additional chief secretary (home) Awanish Kumar Awasthi has sought a detailed report regarding the question paper leak from the Ballia district magistrate (DM) and SP, asking them to submit it at the earliest, according to a home department press statement.
AFTERNOON SHIFT
The class 12 English exam was scheduled to be held from 2pm to 5.15 pm in the second shift across 75 districts of the state on Wednesday.
“The districts in which the exam was cancelled following the paper leak include Agra, Mainpuri, Mathura, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Baghpat, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Unnao, Sitapur, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Jalaun, Chitrakoot, Ambedkarnagar, Pratapgarh, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Ballia, Varanasi, Kanpur Dehat, Etah and Shamli,” said additional chief secretary (secondary education) Aradhana Shukla.
Sharing further details, ADG Prashant Kumar said the Ballia district magistrate and the superintendent of police first received information at around 10.15pm about the paper leak. He said the information was found correct and exam was cancelled in 24 districts where question papers of the same series were sent.
Director (secondary education) Vinay Kumar Pandey said the exam was cancelled in 24 districts following paper leak of the series 316 ED and 316 EI of the intermediate English exam in Ballia. These series of question papers had been sent to the 24 affected districts.
THREE FIRs
ADG Kumar said the three FIRs were registered at the City Kotwali, Naagra and Sikandarpur police stations of Ballia district.
Kumar said the first case was lodged at the City Kotwali for fraud and forgery as well as under charges pertaining to the UP Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 1998. He said two persons were arrested in this case.
He said the second case was registered at Naagra police station in which 10 people were arrested. The third case was registered at Sikanderpur police station and five people were arrested, he added.
5.25 lakh students in 24 districts
In these 24 affected districts, about 5.25 lakh students were registered to take the exam at around 2200 centres.
AKHILESH, MAYAWATI HIT OUT
In a jibe after the question paper leak, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav tweeted, “Even in the second innings of BJP in Uttar Pradesh, the business of getting the question paper leak continues unabated.”
“The youth are saying that the BJP government which has failed to provide employment deliberately does not want to allow any examination to be completed,”he tweeted.
Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati, in her tweet, said, “The issue of question paper leak in UP Board exam has become unstoppable. After the intermediate level English question paper leak, the examination has to be cancelled in 24 districts of the state, including Gorakhpur and Varanasi. Is it fair to play with the lives of students again and again?”
Earlier, in November 2021, the UPTET question paper had also got leaked ahead of the exam.
