Maharashtra School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad has clarified that the chemistry question paper for class 12 HSC board exams was not leaked. Her statement comes in contradiction to earlier media reports which stated that the paper was allegedly leaked by a coaching centre owner.
"This is not correct and I am making this statement in the house. There is no truth in these reports being circulated," Minister Gaikwad said.
She said that the alleged incident was reported on Saturday (March 12) at 10.24 a.m., from the Vile Parle Exam Centre No 3601, when certain portions of the question paper were detected in the mobile phone of a girl student.
"A complaint was lodged with the Vile Parle Police Station and immediate investigations were taken up. The Board Chairman also enquired at his end and said the question paper was distributed to the students for reading at 10.20 a.m. and was found on the students' mobile phones only after that. Hence, there is no basis for saying that the question paper has leaked," Minister Gaikwad told the House.
Meanwhile, soon after the complaint was lodged, a team led by Vile Parle Senior Police Inspector Sanjay Narvekar moved swiftly, managed to zero-in on and detain a private coaching class owner from suburban Malad, and two others in connection with the incident.
Swami added that one student had posted the Chemistry paper on the WhatsApp group along with the answers, and as per preliminary investigation there is no evidence of any financial transactions involved.
The police are checking for the status of the other question papers of the HSC exams - which started on March 4, the modus operandi, how a private coaching class owner gained access to the highly confidential question papers of a major public exam and involvement of board officials if any.
Earlier today, the Mumbai police arrested the owner of a coaching centre for allegedly leaking the class 12 chemistry exam paper.
"Mukesh DhanSingh who runs a private coaching centre in the Malad area of Mumbai, leaked the Maharashtra Board class 12 chemistry paper on WhatsApp," a Mumbai police officer told ANI.
Several media reports stated that the paper was leaked hours ahead of the exam and went viral on social media platforms.
(With agency inputs)
