CBSE Paper Leak 2018 Sequence of Events: How Police Found Out About Class 10 Maths And Class 12 Economics Exam Question Paper Leak

Hundreds of students, who were done taking their CBSE examination, came out on the streets today to protest a day after the Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) announced that it would re-conduct the Class 10 Mathematics exam and Class 12 Economics exam.

New Delhi, Mar 29: Hundreds of students, who were done taking their CBSE examination, came out on the streets today to protest a day after the Central Board of Secondary Examination (CBSE) announced that it would re-conduct the Class 10 Mathematics exam and Class 12 Economics exam. While students protested at Jantar Mantar in Delhi demanding that either a re-examination be conducted for all subjects or none of them at all, CBSE chief Anita Karwal said that the decision to conduct re-examination was taken in the interest of the students. 

“We have taken the decision in favour of the students. We are working for their good. Dates for re-examination will be announced soon,” Karwal said on Thursday. However, questions are being raised as to whether this situation could have been averted. According to Zee News, CBSE had come to know of the paper leak days before the exam was to be conducted, but the board didn’t cancel the exams.

Here is a sequence of events from the day the board got the first clue of paper leak

• On March 23, CBSE received a fax from an unknown number, stating that a coaching centre and two CBSE schools have leaked the paper.
• On March 24, CBSE sent these faxes to the Delhi Regional Office. On the same day, the Regional Office gave a complaint to the Crime Branch about the paper having been leaked on WhatsApp. However, the police or the CBSE didn’t act on it on that very day.
• On March 26, at the Rouse Avenue in the academic section, a packet containing answer to Economics paper and 4 mobile numbers was received, after which the Crime Branch called Vidya Coaching Centre owner Vicky for questioning. However, due to lack of evidence, he was released.
• On March 27, even as it was clear that the Economics Paper of Class 12 had been leaked, the exam was not dropped. On the same day in the evening, the Crime Branch filed an FIR on the paper leak.
• On the morning of March 28, the Class 10 Maths paper got leaked on social media. The CBSE gave a second complaint to the Delhi Police after 90 minutes of examination, after which another FIR was filed.
• On March 29, Vicky was again called for questioning during which he claimed that he also got the question paper on WhatsApp and he also accused some people of framing him.

According to the Crime Branch, so far, about 25 people have been questioned on the Class 12 Economics paper leak. According to the crime branch, these include 11 school students who received the paper on WhatsApp, seven students of first-year college, five tutors and two private persons.

In the Class 10 Maths paper leak, the Crime Branch has identified 24 students who got the paper on WhatsApp. There is also a woman tutor in Delhi on the radar of the Crime Branch. She is also the administrator of the WhatsApp group, on which the paper was leaked.

According to the students, these papers were received through social media. Although the police has so far refused that any papers were sold in exchange of money, sources say that these papers were sold for Rs 10,000 to 15,000. According to sources, a gang approached the students and called them to areas like Rohini and Uttam Nagar to pay for the papers. According to sources, the gang sold the papers to students for RS 10,000 to Rs 15,000.

Meanwhile, the Crime Branch has also contacted the CBSE to know how the paper reaches the exam centres, where it is printed and what are the security norms. The Crime Branch is trying to put together the sequence of events to know how the paper was first leaked on WhatsApp.