UP Board Paper Leak: 9 more arrested in Class 12 English exam paper leak case; 26 held so far

BALLIA: Nine more people, including two local journalists, were arrested on Thursday for their alleged role in the Class 12 board exam paper leak, the Uttar Pradesh Police said. The English examination was cancelled in 24 districts on Wednesday after the paper was leaked, prompting chief minister Yogi Adityanath to order invoking the stringent National Security Act in the case.

Till now, 26 people have been arrested in the case. Three journalists and Ballia's District Inspector of Schools (DIoS) Brajesh Kumar Mishra are among those arrested. One of the journalists was arrested on Wednesday. The English paper cancelled in 24 districts will now be held on April 13, an official statement said here. The DIoS and one of the arrested journalists, Ajit Ojha, were on Wednesday produced before the chief judicial magistrate and sent to judicial custody.

"The remaining 24 accused in the exam paper leak case were produced before the judicial magistrate here and remanded in 14-day judicial custody," Ballia additional superintendent of police Vijay Tripathi told PTI on Thursday. Police sources said the DIoS has been shifted to the Azamgarh district jail. The remaining accused are lodged in the Ballia district jail. Teams of the Special Task Force and SOG (Special Operation Groups) of the Uttar Pradesh Police investigating the case are presently camping in Ballia, trying to track down the individuals and the mastermind involved in the crime.

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Uttar Pradesh education minister Gulab Devi, meanwhile, visited Ideal Public Inter College, a UP Board exam centre in Lucknow, to oversee arrangements for the board exams. She asked the centre in charge about procedures being followed to prevent the use of unfair means and went into classrooms where students were taking the exams. DSP Shiv Narayan Vyas of Rasra in Ballia district said among the nine arrested on Thursday, seven were held by the Nagara police and two by the Sikandarpur police.

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Those arrested include two local journalists, Digvijay Singh and Manoj Gupta, along with a principal and a manager of a private inter-college, he said. The arrested principal and manager of the inter-college were identified as Rajesh Gupta and Narendra Gupta, respectively. Police have registered three separate FIRs at Ballia Kotwali, Nagara and Sikandarpur police stations. Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar had on Wednesday said the Ballia DM and SP got information on Wednesday morning that the second shift paper had been leaked. Adityanath has ordered the Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh Police to probe the case.