Class 10 Hindi paper leak baffles all

Warangal: The series of leakage of question papers, which began with TSPSC Group-1 papers, continues unabated even during the SSC examinations points towards a disturbing trend causing concern both among the students and parents.

While the Telugu question paper was leaked in Tandur of Vikarabad district, another incident of leakage of the Hindi question took place in Kamalapur boys high school in Warangal district on Tuesday. In this case too, it was leaked in a WhatsApp group.

How did it happen? Well the story assumes different dimensions. According to the preliminary investigation by the police, the question paper appeared on WhatsApp at 10.47 am while the exam commenced at 9.30 am.

Reacting to it, Commissioner of Police A V Ranganath in the morning said that a former electronic media reporter, who is now associated with a political party, got hold of the question paper. He maintained that it was not a leak but a lapse. He said there was a difference between leak and lapse.

Later in the evening, he told the media that a 16-year-old boy named Shiva climbed onto a tree close to a window on the third floor of the examination hall, took the question paper from one Harish and took a photo of the paper. What baffles one is how is it that no invigilator could see someone passing on a question paper to a person through the window who could take a photo at 9.45 am, return the paper to the student and disappear unnoticed.

The CP said Shiva forwarded the photo to Shiva Ganesh who was in a WhatsApp group of SSC group which had 31 members at 9.50 am. Shiva had sent it to one Prashant and the news of this broke around 10.45 am.

Shiva had done all this to help his friend. Hence it cannot be called as a leak. "The way the campaign that question paper was leaked appears to be an attempt to malign the examination system," he added.

When asked if there was any police lapse, the CP said that they had posted two home guards at the gate. But the school was in a huge campus and it was difficult to cover the entire area. He said this aspect will also be examined now.

But educationists say that generally the windows are supposed to be kept closed and if the question paper comes out of the centre before the exam concludes it is considered a leak of question paper.

Students can leave the examination hall only 30 minutes prior to the exam time is over.

As the news of the question paper leak spread, Warangal District Collector P Pravinya said there was no code on the question paper and hence it may not be a leak. Hanumakonda DEO Md. Abdul Hai said that they had lodged a complaint with the Warangal Commissioner of Police.