Uttar Pradesh Class 12 Paper Leak: Protest against journalists' arrest in Ballia

BALLIA: Journalists here staged a protest against the arrest of three scribes in connection with the Class 12 exam paper leak and demanded their immediate release. Three journalists Ajit Kumar Ojha, Digvijay Singh and Manoj Gupta were arrested in connection with the paper leak last week though police have not yet been able to specify their role.

Ballia Superintendent of Police had told PTI said the arrests had been made on the FIRs lodged in the case and by following the due legal process. He, however, had declined to reveal any information on the evidence police had gathered against the journalists.

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Under the banner of the Joint Journalist Sangharsh Samiti, scribes staged a protest at the district headquarters on Monday and demanded the setting up of a high-level inquiry and punishment of the guilty, president of Ballia Shramjeevi Patrakar Union Anup Kumar Hemkar said on Tuesday. They also resolved to continue the agitation till the release of the journalists.

They raised slogans and held a meeting at the collectorate campus and charged the district administration with suppressing the media. Journalists had published the question paper leak story prominently in newspapers while discharging their responsibility as a vigilant watchdog of society but this act upset the district administration, Hemkar said.

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Police have arrested 50 people in connection with the paper leak. After the English paper of Class 12 was leaked, the state government had cancelled the examination in 24 districts, including Ballia.