No leads yet in Odisha constable test question leak

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Cuttack/Kendrapara, Mar 16:

The Crime Branch (CB) has started investigation into the leak of question papers of the written test for recruitment of constables in Odisha police, which had to be cancelled after the leak yesterday. But so far, it has got no leads in the case.

Two teams, each of them headed by a DSP, have been formed to probe the case. While one team has left for Kendrapara to look for clues into the case, the other team is conducting investigation in Cuttack and Bhubaneswar, Crime Branch ADG Bijay Kumar Sharma said.

Among other things, the team is conducting a forensic examination of the strong room at the police headquarters where the question papers had been kept, he added.

While not ruling out the involvement of an insider in the leak, the Crime Branch is investigating possible involvement of outsiders in the case, sources said.

The Crime Branch is zeroing in on three possible areas from where the questions could have been leaked: the police headquarters where they were kept before despatch to the examination centres, on the way to the examination centres and the strong room at the district level where the question papers were stored from March 13 to 15, the sourses added.

Meanwhile, the two-member Crime Branch team arrived at the Kendrapara district headquarters office on Sunday evening and held discussions with the authorities in charge of conducting examinations at the Reserve Police office. It also discussed with the authorities who were in charge of question papers.

The team later met the district superintendent of police Satish Gajbhiye and discussed the matter with him.

“The Crime Branch team had come here for investigation. They asked us several questions relating to the date when the question papers were received and when we came to know about the leak of question papers. We have not opened the question papers which is sealed packed inside a gunny bag," Gajbhiye said.