At least eight persons have been arrested in connection with the circulation of the used question paper of Sunday’s Assam Direct Recruitment Examination (ADRE) for Grade 3 posts on social media, an act carried out “to defame the examination process”.
The used question paper appeared on social media at 4:15pm on Monday. Police said preliminary technical assessment “indicates” that the question paper was scanned at 2.17pm on Sunday and “subsequently circulated to selected individuals”. The exam started at 10am and ended at 1.30pm.
The police said of the eight arrested on Tuesday, six were associated with the exam centre.
The arrested included two supervisors, three invigilators, one official photographer, two civilians, including a candidate. The charges against them included violation of exam rules and negligence of duty, among others.
The investigation was on, the police said.
According to the exam rules, question paper cannot be taken out of the examination hall.
The Board of Secondary Examination, Assam (SEBA), which conducted the statewide examination, said the used and unused answer sheets and attendance sheets, among others, were sealed under strict supervision and immediately sent to strong rooms in the respective district commissioner offices after the examination.
The examination was held amid very tight security protocol.
The said act of sharing and circulating the question paper was seen by the SEBA “as a false attempt to create a paper leak impression”.
The SEBA also said in a statement hours after the question paper surfaced on social media on Monday, 30 hours after the exam commenced on Sunday, that “strict legal action” would be taken “against those spreading rumours”.
The question papers “were no longer confidential” and there was no possibility of uploads or transfers before or during the exam as mobile Internet services were suspended from 10am to 1.30pm, the SEBA said, asserting the circulation of the question paper post-examination “does not affect the integrity of the process”.
The used question paper, according to Assam police chief G.P. Singh, was first shared by the photographer Mangal Singh Basumutary, 38, engaged by the SEBA at the Upendra National Academy exam centre in Dhemaji district.
His interrogation led to the arrest of those involved in sharing the question paper and for negligence, on Tuesday, including two exam supervisors, three invigilators and two civilians.
Singh said on Monday night: “Dhemaji police has cracked the case. It has been revealed that the paper was photographed by one Mangal Singh Basumutary, one of the photographers engaged by the SEBA at the centre. The photography was done after the examination was over at 1.30pm at the examination centre. He has been detained and has confessed that the photography of the paper was done after the examination was over. His mobile devices have been seized for further investigation.”
“He also circulated the paper after clicking the pictures to a few individuals who are being identified for further action. Further investigation is under way to ascertain the criminal conspiracy behind this act to defame the examination process,” Singh said.
