SSC paper leak:Maharashtra board begins probe

Around 10 days after the Mumbai division of the Maharashtra state board registered a criminal case in the Bhiwandi SSC paper leak incident and police arrested five accused, it has finally begun an independent investigation.

“We have sent out orders to the officials involved today,” said Krishnakumar Patil, chairman, Mumbai divisional board. HT had earlier reported about several lapses on part of the divisional board that might have aided the accused.

Currently, over 30 coaching centres are under the police scanner. On March 14, Samvad Foundation, an NGO, brought to the education department’s attention pictures of question papers being circulated on a social media site.

Meanwhile, the education department of the Bhiwandi-Nizampur Municipal Corporation (BNMC) has asked its officials to submit a report. “We have summoned a few officials from Kakatiya High School for enquiry as the school’s vice-principal was found with copies of the paper in his phone. If there is a lapse at the school’s end, action will be taken,” said Pandharinath Vekhande, deputy commissioner (education), BNMC. Elsewhere, police officers said probe into the case has slowed down. “The paper trail has led us to a lot of people who were part of the leak. But after the initial arrests, those connected with the accused are absconding and we are on the lookout,” said a police officer from Bhiwandi.