Karnataka: Minister’s OSD, 2 others held for PU paper leak

DHNS

Bengaluru, 05 April 2016: The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) on Monday arrested three people, including the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Medical Education Minister Dr Sharan Prakash R Patil, in connection with the II year Pre-University Chemistry examination question paper leak.

 

The exam was held on March 21. The arrested are Oblaraju (51), the minister’s OSD, Manjunath (47), a physical education teacher at Cambridge College in Vijayanagar, and Rudrappa (50), office superintendent at PWD office at K R Circle.

 

“Oblaraju is from the Pensions and Small Savings Department of the State government. He was appointed OSD to Dr Patil two years ago. He is a relative of suspect Rudrappa. Children of Rudrappa and Oblaraju had appeared for the II PU examination this year,” DIG (CID) Sonia Narang told reporters on Monday. Asked if Minister Patil would be roped in for investigation, the CID said the minister cannot be held responsible for Oblaraju’s wrongs. If needed, the CID may question him.

 

Suspect Manjunath, who had got the question paper from a source, had sold it to many people at different prices and netted Rs 10 lakh. He deposited the money in his bank account. The CID would write to the bank branch concerned to freeze his account, Narang said.

 

Manjunath and Oblaraju were acquaintances. Knowing that the latter and Rudrappa’s children were in II PU, Manjunath sold them the leaked question paper. “We are yet to ascertain how much they paid Manjunath,” Narang said. Manjunath is also an LIC agent and his wife a government PU College lecturer in the City. The CID is ascertaining from whom Manjunath got the question paper. They suspect some PU Board staff may have helped Manjunath lay hands on the question paper.

 

The question paper is believed to have been obtained by a select few students before it reached the children of Manjunath and Oblaraju and some others. Some of these students photographed the hand written question paper and posted it to their friends on WhatsApp. Some even posted it on WhatsApp groups. The question paper, thus, circulated across the State, Narang said.

 

There are no criminal cases against the suspects in any of the police stations. It is not known if they had any role in the second leak of the Chemistry question paper prior to the re-exam fixed for March 31, which has been put off to April 12. The suspects have been booked under IPC sections 418, 420 and 381, besides provisions of the Karnataka Education Act.