Assam: Conspirator Behind Morphed Picture Of Geography Paper Arrested

The conspirator behind the circulation of a morphed picture of Geography question paper of the High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) Class 10 examination was apprehended by Assam police on Saturday afternoon.

The arrested individual has been identified as one Masoom Ali, a resident of Nagaon.

Earlier today, Ali had shared the morphed picture on Whatsapp, that later spread like wildfire on social media, just ahead of the exam to be held on March 20.

However, the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA) clarified that the latest leak is fake and the paper is from 2021.

It was believed that it was the work of some miscreant with an aim to disrupt the ongoing investigation over the recent paper leak incidents.

Meanwhile, state education minister Ranoj Pegu tweeted two images, the original 2021 question paper of Geography along with the morphed up picture. He also instructed the concerned authority to file an FIR in this regard.

"The Geography Question Paper circulated in social media allegedly of leak is fake. SEBA authority has confirmed that it is fake. Instructed concerned officer to lodge FIR in Police station," he tweeted.

Several persons including teachers and students were detained during the high-level investigation that was initiated by the Crime Investigation Department (CID) after the scam got exposed earlier this month.

Three teachers namely Pranab Dutta, Prasanna Das, and Kumud Rajkhowa (the mastermind of the scam) were placed under suspension by the office of the district inspector of school after they were arrested for their involvement in the paper leak case.

The trio is now under police custody after mastermind Kumud Rajkhowa, a science teacher of Dafalakata Janajati High School located in Nowboicha surrendered himself before the police on Friday.

While Pranab Dutta, was the principal of Luit Kaboli High School in Lakhimpur , Prasanna Das was a teacher of Dafalakata Janajati High School located in Nowboicha.

Earlier yesterday, the Board of Secondary Education, Assam (SEBA), announced that the examination of all MIL/English (IL) subjects of the ongoing High School Leaving Certificate (HSLC) Class 10 examinations will be held on April 1, 2023.

This comes after the exams had to be rescheduled following orders from Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma last night, in light of reports of a possible question paper leak.

The exams were earlier scheduled to be held on March 18. However, during the interrogation, one of the suspects who was arrested for his role in leaking the General Science question paper earlier, confessed to authorities about leaking the Assamese language paper as well.

This prompted Assam CM Sarma to direct SEBA to reschedule the exams. And now, SEBA announced a fresh date for all MIL/ English (IL) subjects to be held on April 1.