Assam paper leak: Masterminds arrested as protests continue

Two teachers identified as masterminds in the Assam state board class 10 exam question paper leak were arrested on Friday, a senior police officer said.

With the latest arrests, the total number of people apprehended has reached 31, even as the issue rocked the state assembly and protests continued in different parts of the state, including by examinees.

"The two main accused, Pranab Dutta and Kumud Rajkhowa, have been arrested. They are currently in Lakhimpur, where they were apprehended," Assam Police spokesperson Prasanta Kumar Bhuyan told PTI.

"As informed by CID, the total arrests now are at 31," he added.

Two instances of question paper leak of class 10 exams conducted by Board of Secondary Education, Assam, (SEBA) has come to light, leading to cancellation of both the tests.

The general science exam, scheduled for Monday, was cancelled the night before, while the Modern Indian Language (MIL) and English papers, slated for Saturday, were declared cancelled by SEBA on Thursday night.

The first exam that was cancelled will now be held on March 30, while the other on April 1.

Director General of Police (DGP) G P Singh, addressing a press conference here, said the CID, which is investigating the case, has been able to establish the chain of events leading to the leak of the question papers and circulation.

"We have enough physical evidence with us in the case," he said.

Singh said the headteacher and the centre in-charge of Luhit Khabalu High School of Majuli, Pranab Dutta, is one of the main accused and was detained from the island district on Thursday.

The other mastermind, Kumud Rajkhowa, a teacher of Daflakata High School in Lakhimpur, surrendered in the afternoon and both Dutta and Rajkhowa were subsequently arrested, police spokesperson Bhuyan said.

Singh also said remnants of burnt question papers have been recovered from the house of Dutta, and those were sent for forensic examination.

He added that the CID is gathering more technical evidence, like details of social media interactions and monetary transactions through e-wallets.

On juveniles being apprehended, the DGP said it was a "considered decision" as without arresting them the chain of events could not have been established in 24-38 hours of the matter coming to fore.

The question paper leak issue was raised in the assembly by the opposition, demanding a statement from the government, which rejected the call, leading to noisy scenes.

Immediately after the Question Hour, Leader of Opposition Debabrata Saikia raised the matter in the House and asked the government to come out with a statement.

"Yesterday again, one more paper was leaked. So far, the government has said General Science and Assamese papers have been leaked. There are allegations that Mathematics and English papers were leaked as well. Have all papers been leaked?" he asked.

Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pijush Hazarika condemned the leak and said the mastermind has been nabbed within three days.

"We are also taking steps so that such incidents never recur in the future. The CM has already made a statement in the assembly yesterday. I do not think there is a need to give any more statements," he added.

When Congress MLA Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha pointed out that the CM has accepted the failure of the government, Hazarika and other members of the treasury opposed the statement, leading to a verbal duel between Purkayastha and Hazarika.

Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had on Thursday conceded in the assembly that the general science question paper leak was a "failure" of his government.

After this, Education Minister Ranoj Pegu said, "Yesterday, the CM said police have arrested the mastermind, who confessed to leaking the General Science paper. He also told the police that the Assamese paper was taken away, but burnt it before leaking it."

The government did not want to take any risk and the CM suggested rescheduling of the examination, and accordingly tests for all MIL and English papers will now take place on new dates, he added.

Earlier talking to reporters outside the House, Pegu said there were "lapses in the system and the entire process needs to be analysed and rectified".

Meanwhile, protests in different parts of the state continued with AASU and NSUI organising demonstrations in several places while many examinees also staged protests.

Students from about five schools of Guwahati, including many appearing for the class 10 board exam, staged a protest in front of the SEBA office here, demanding clarifications from the board chairman.

They squatted at the two entries of the office and urged the SEBA chairman to step outside the building and answer their questions.

"We want assurance that the question papers of the exams already held were not leaked and that it won't happen for the subjects that are due," one of the students said.

In Sivasagar town, several students, including examinees, staged a silent demonstration, demanding measures for the smooth conduct of the examination.

The All Assam Students' Union (AASU), which has been protesting since the question paper leak came to light on March 13, also staged demonstrations and took out processions in Dibrugarh, Sadiya, Sivasagar, Golaghat and Jorhat, among other places.

The Congress' students' wing, NSUI, also staged a demonstration at Bilasipara in Dhubri district, and burnt the effigy of Assam Education Minister, Ranoj Pegu.

Protests were also staged in front of the Luit Khabalu High School in Majuli, with locals gathered in the area and raising slogans against the arrested headteacher.

Meanwhile, seeking Prime Minister Narendra Modi's intervention, opposition party Assam Jatiya Parishad demanded the removal of SEBA chairman Ramesh Chand Jain for the leak of class 10 board papers and asked for a judicial probe into the scandal.

AJP sent a letter to Modi to apprise him of the recent developments regarding the class 10 state board examinations and sought his "immediate intervention into the matter", the party's president Lurinjyoti Gogoi said at a press conference here.