4 Telangana govt staff suspended after standby invigilator shares Class 10 board exam paper with colleague

HYDERABAD: Four government staff have been suspended in Vikarabad district of Telangana after a standby invigilator at a school allegedly took a photo of a question paper of Class 10 board examinations and shared it with a teacher on an instant messaging app while the test was going on.

The Class 10 (SSC) exams commenced across the state on Monday. Police booked a case in connection with the alleged incident. The reliever (standby invigilator) in the government school allegedly took screenshots of the First Language (Telugu) question paper on his mobile phone soon after the exam began and sent it on the app to a teacher in another government school in the district to prepare the answers for malpractice, officials said.

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As the news had spread on electronic media, the duo panicked and deleted it, they said. However, the examination was conducted peacefully and the integrity of the test has not been compromised in any aspect, officials claimed. It was an individual instance of malpractice by the invigilator, they said. The Vikarabad district collector has suspended four employees, including the men who were allegedly directly involved in the matter.

The district collector has been directed by senior officials of the education department to take action as per relevant rules. The officials pointed out that the exam slated to be held on Tuesday would be conducted as per schedule. The parents and students are assured that there is no reason for apprehension in the matter, they said.

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Meanwhile, Telangana BJP president Bandi Sanjay Kumar hit out at the alleged leak of Class 10 Telugu paper and demanded the resignation of Education Minister P Sabita Indra Reddy. Kumar, in a statement, demanded that the remaining exams be conducted in a peaceful manner. The activists of NSUI held a protest outside the SSC Board here and sought the removal of the Education Minister from her post, a Congress release said.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) of Telangana police is currently investigating the alleged leak of some question papers of recruitment tests conducted by the state public service commission. Police have arrested 15 people in connection with the paper leak issue which led to a strident attack by the opposition against the BRS government.