Bhubaneswar, Aug 1
The Crime Branch of Odisha Police has arrested another teacher in connection with the leakage of question papers of Special Odisha Teacher Eligibility Test (OTET)-2025 examination, bringing the number of arrested accused in the case to seven, said a senior Crime Branch official on Friday.
The Special OTET-2025 examination, scheduled to be held on July 20 by the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Cuttack, was canceled after the question papers went viral on social media platforms before the exam.
The accused was identified as Prasant Kumar Khamari (56) of Jenakhalpada Bhawanipatna police limits in Kalahandi district.
The accused Khamari, posted at a government school, Bhejipadar, Bhawanipatna, along with other accused persons including Bijay Kumar Mishra Ex-Cadre Working President of State Ex-Cadre Teacher Association, Sanatan Bisoi, President of Ex-Cadre Teachers Association of Koraput District, obtained the question papers through the Jitan Moharana, the data entry operator at BSE, Odisha head office at Cuttack and wrote the computerised question papers in his own handwriting to screen the actual leaked paper.
Besides, he enticed the gullible teachers who had failed in the last Special OTET examination and sold out the papers to make easy money.
On due analysis of the financial transaction of the accused person, it came to fore that Khamari had transferred Rs 99,000 through phone pay to the principal accused Bijay Kumar Mishra for collecting the hard cash from the gullible teachers.
Accounts of alleged accused are under verification.
Earlier, the Crime Branch had earlier arrested six other accused persons involved in the case a couple of days back. Khamari was arrested by the crime branch team on Thursday and forwarded to the court in Cuttack on Friday.
The Crime branch sources also revealed the mobile phone of the accused has been seized and sample handwriting has been taken in presence of witnesses that will be sent to Hand Writing Bureau and Cyber Forensic for examination and opinion.