Three arrested, eight students booked for SSC exam paper leak

Three persons, including a teacher, have been arrested for allegedly leaking the SSC Board exam paper of History and Political Science (Part I) to students, police said today.

The matter came to light yesterday after exam invigilator Sandhya Pawar saw three students constantly referring to their text books and mobile phones outside the exam hall at MVM Swami Muktanand High School in suburban Andheri, the official said.

"On checking the mobile phone of one the students, Pawar found a question paper of History and Political Science stored in it. She alerted the senior officials present at the exam centre," he said.

The incident took place before the exam, scheduled between 11am and 1pm, he said, adding that the students were allowed to answer the exam.

"Once the exams got over, the students were taken to Amboli police station where, based on their statements, a case was registered under the Information Technology Act and Maharashtra University Act against 11 persons, including eight students," the official informed.

A probe by a police team led by Inspector Ravindra Sawanke and Sub-Inspector Daya Nayak led to the case being solved within ten hours, officials said.

Police said the team arrested Firoz Khan (49), a coaching class teacher from Ambernath in neighbouring Thane, and Imran Sheikh (45) and Anwarun Hassan (21) from Mumbai and Mumbra.

"It was learnt during investigations that they had leaked the paper to five other students, The eight students were detained and juvenile proceeding has been initiated against them," the official said.

Police said that Khan and the other two accused charged students anything between Rs 100 to Rs 2000 for such leaks.

"The three have been remanded to police custody till March 23 and investigations are underway," he said.