Student held for hoax call on PU paper leak; Minister faces flak for revealing name

A second-year pre-university course student who had tried to mislead the department of pre-university education by spreading the message about question paper leak has been debarred on Saturday morning. He was later arrested by the police.

The student (name withheld) of a private unaided college from Bengaluru and with the examination fear he tried to mislead the exams of Computer Science subject scheduled for Saturday. According to information from department officials, late in the night on Friday one of the department officials got a WhatsApp message on his mobile phone from an unknown number saying "the question paper for the Saturday's Computer Science subject has been leaked in Jayanagar 4th Block. Please do the needful and change the question paper, if it's the same question paper students were sharing the question paper."

Following the message, department officials alerted the Bangalore City Police and director of the department who nabbed the student and debarred him. "When inquired, the student he revealed that he did it because of the fear for the subject and unpreparedness," said an official of the department.

A complaint was registered with Bangalore North Police and the director of the department coordinated with all details.

"When the officers and police caught the person who started this message, the student has confessed that he was a Second Pre-University student and he had not studied Computer Science paper. Hence, he wanted some confusion to happen so that the exam paper gets changed or exam gets postponed," said S Suresh Kumar, the Minister for Primary and Secondary education.

He said, "The student was interrogated completely and the department has taken a decision to debar this student on charges of miscreation. I appreciate the effort of PU director and the DCP Bengaluru North."

However, the department did not postpone the exams nor changed the question paper.

Student in police custody:

Following the complaint filed by Assistant director of the department, the Bengaluru North division police had taken the student to custody.

N Shashikumar DCP (north) said that "An 18-year-old boy from an unaided private PU College Jayanagar 4th Block had called the PU board helpline saying that a computer science paper was leaked and going around in social media and WhatsApp groups. The assistant director of the PE department had lodged a complaint in Yeshwanthpur police station."

He further added that, based on the complaint, the student was taken to custody along with his parents and he is being questioned as he was prevented from attending exams and debarred from PU board.

Student's name revealed

Meanwhile, the minister S Suresh Kumar was criticised for revealing the name of the student in his Facebook post. Several parents and teachers noted that such a move may lead to unforeseen circumstances. The minister's Facebook post not only revealed the student's name but also uploaded a screenshot of the WhatsApp message window, revealing the phone number of the student. "Before revealing the name of the student the minister should have to understand the fear psychosis of the student," said a teacher.

"As a responsible minister, how can he be so irresponsible and reveal the name of the student. One should think about the other social consequences the student has to undergo," said another student.