Balasore: Balasore police have arrested another eight persons in the question paper leak incident of JE (Mains) Civil examination conducted by the Odisha Staff Selection Commission (OSSC) on July 16. With this, the total number of arrests in the case so far stands at 25.
The accused are middlemen hailing from Odisha who had contacted the candidates to supply question papers of the JE (Mains) Civil examination before the scheduled date and time of the examination, said an official press release issued by the Balasore police.
The accused persons have been identified as Bijay Mallick (25), Santanu Mishra (29), Sandeep Kumar Mohanty (27), Pradeep Sathpathy, Niranjan Behera (55), Ajay Kumar Biswal (43), Rajib Lochan Sahu (33), and Sapan Ku Rout (33), the release added.
Previously, request letters for necessary departmental action against Vishal Kumar, Gobinda Tripathy and Sushant Kumar Sahu were written to Accountant General’s office, Patna, District Education Officer, Kandhamal and District Education Officer, Jajpur, respectively. In continuation, letters for necessary departmental action against Ajay Kumar Biswal & Bijay Mallick are being sent to District Education Officer, Balasore, the release said.
The release stated that for further investigation, the police remand for Vishal Kumar, Virendra Singh, Bijendra Kumar, Patta Sunil, Susant Kumar Sahoo and Gobinda Tripathy is being prayed for. A search warrant of a location outside Odisha is also being prayed for. Request for cancellation of bail in previously involved cases is also being done, it added.
The release stated that investigation until now suggests that the candidates were contacted by the gang via two modes primarily. One was through local contacts via the existing “manpower consultancy services” and the other was via various “online study groups” existing on social media platforms like Telegram and Whatsapp.
The origins of some of these messages have been identified and the accused have been apprehended today. Some more individuals, from both inside and outside Odisha, involved with the racket have also been identified and further arrests will be made in due course of investigation, the release added.
As of today a total of 25 accused involved in the case have been apprehended by Balasore Police, the release said.
Further investigation is underway, the release added.
