3 held for PU Physics paper leak

Mangaloretoday/ DHNS

Bangalore, Mar 22, 2012: For the first time in Karnataka’s history, another II PUC examination was postponed in a span of just three days as the Physics paper, scheduled for Thursday, was found leaked in Tumkur.

The revelation and the resultant postponement of the exam threw lakhs of students and parents into a tizzy, and embarrassed the Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE) which found itself short of answers.

 

The DPUE was forced to reschedule not only the Physics paper but also Chemistry, Business Studies, Marathi, Urdu, French, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Arabic, Hindi, Telugu, and Sanskrit exams.

Three persons — Ashwath Narayan, Ranjith and Sudarshan — were arrested in Bangalore in connection with the paper leak, even as the City police are on the lookout for at least three more suspects, Ajay Kumar, Puttaraj alias Naveen Kumar, and Shashikala.

Besides, Eshwar, the man who is believed to have supplied the leaked Mathematics paper in Kolar and Chikballapur districts, is also being chased by the police. His mobile phone is switched off and the Bangalore address furnished by him to the cellular service provider is fake.

In total, criminal cases have been filed at Chintamani (Chikballapur district), Girinagar, and Malleshwaram police stations. The City police has transferred the cases to its Central Crime Branch (CCB) wing as the State CID too began investigations into the racket in the leak and sale of the questions papers.

Coming as it did just two days after the Mathematics paper was put off just before it was to commence on Tuesday, the leakage of the Physics paper put the DPUE under the scanner, prompting the State Government to do some serious soul searching.

As was the case with Mathematics, the Physics paper leak was also “100 percent” with even the serial numbers of the questions matching. Rumours about the Physics paper leak started pouring in as early as Tuesday, but the DPUE denied.

However, DPUE Commissioner Rashmi V Mahesh confirmed them late Wednesday night, and announced the paper’s postponement.

She justified the delay in confirming the leakage and said that “there was no way we could confirm it before”.

“The leaked paper was not available when the complaints kept pouring in. We could confirm it only by Wednesday night and immediately decided to put the exam off,” she told reporters.

Rashmi described the leakage as a “rude shock”, and stressed that the entire protocol, right from composing of the question paper to its printing, transportation and delivery, was “rigorously followed”. She vowed to conduct all the remaining exams as per schedule and according to the “highest standards” of the DPUE.

“We will take all the required precautionary measures to ensure that such incidents do not recur,” she said, adding that the DPUE was also conducting its own inquiry into matter. She, however, denied rumours of the Chemistry paper, now rescheduled for March 31, being leaked.

Revised exam schedule

(9 am - 12.15 pm)
24th March Sat    Opt Kannada / Statistics / Home Science
27th March Mon    Physics/ Logic/ Education
28th March Wed    Kannada/Tamil/ Malayalam/ Arabic
29th March Thu    English
30th March Fri    Marathi/ Urdu/ French
31st March Sat    Chemistry/ Business Studies
03rd April  Tue    Mathematics
05th April Thu    Hindi / Telugu / Sanskrit (2 PM - 5.15 PM)