Police rule out foul play in Bengal TET question papers disappearance

Ruling out any foul play in the "mysterious" disappearance of Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) question papers, the West Bengal CID on Thursday claimed it actually "happened by accident".

According to Inspector General, CID, Vineet Kumar Goyal, the packet of the question paper fell from the bus that carrying them and was picked up by a truck driver.

Following inputs from eyewitness Abdul Quasim, CID sleuths tracked down the truck driver and his helper who had picked up the packet of the question papers.

"The truck driver admitted that his helper picked up the packet but after seeing that only papers were inside he threw them away," Goyal told media persons.

"We interrogated the driver several times and could not establish any criminal intent," he added.

Originally scheduled to August 30, the TET examination conducted by the West Bengal Board of Primary Education (WBBPE), was rescheduled first to October 4 and subsequently to October 11 after a bunch of question papers "mysteriously disappeared" while being transported to Hooghly district.

The state education minister had on August 28 announced the disappearance of the question papers and rescheduling of the exam.

Besides directing WBBPE to initiate legal action against the postal department, the state government had handed the probe to the CID.

The disappearance of the question papers had led to a political slugfest with the ruling Trinamool Congress blaming the postal department which was entrusted to transport the papers, while the opposition Left Front and the Bharatiya Janata Party called it a "scam" and alleged Trinamool's involvement.

While the Left Front demanded a judicial probe into the matter alleging the Trinamool was involved, student and youth wings of the Left parties on Tuesday took out a march to the Raj Bhavan and submitted a memorandum to Governor K.N. Tripathi seeking his intervention.