Paper 'leak' result of rivalry between colleges, say cops

Professional and business rivalry between two private educational institutions reportedly resulted in the II PU Accountancy question “paper leak” controversy in Manvi town in Raichur on Monday.

Preliminary investigations revealed that rivalry between Kalinga PU College and Kalmath PU College over admissions led to the question paper leak theory.

The suspects are Shararanbasava Bettadur, director, Board of Management, Kalinga PU College; Mahesh Kumar, principal, Kalinga PU College and Siddanagouda, lecturer, Kalinga PU College. “We suspect that the trio deliberately clicked the picture and shared it, spreading rumours over professional rivalry with Kalmath PU College,” Chetan Singh R Rathod, SP, Raichur told Deccan Herald.

"We have arrested three persons for rumour mongering and circulating false information triggering tension and anxiety among parents and students across the state," Rathod said.

Bettadur was a journalist with a leading Kannada daily. He quit the job about three months ago and took to teaching.  Siddanagouda was an invigilator for a centre in a private college. Based on instructions of his management, he went out of the hall minutes after the examination began. He entered SRSVS institution campus where students of Kalmath PU College were writing the examination. He clicked photos of the question paper around 10.45 am and returned to his duty as invigilator. He shared the image with Kumar and Bettadur.

The trio shared the image with all contacts on the mobile phones asking them to forward it among their contacts. They also alerted news channel reporters that a question paper was leaked in Kalmath College.

"We are still questioning them to ascertain their exact intention. They would be produced before the magistrate and would be taken into police custody if required," the SP said.

The police said the rivalry between Kalinga College and Kalmath College began a few years ago over admissions. Both the colleges did everything to target each other and attract more students to their colleges.