Criminal Investigation Department sleuths are very close to cracking the March 31 Pre-University chemistry re-exam question paper leakage case. They have identified three key people, who, they said, had a major role in revealing the questions on social media platforms.
According to officials, this breakthrough was made after they questioned the 40 Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE) personnel who were suspended on Thursday.
Investigators were not willing to divulge any details on the identity of the suspects as they were being questioned at the CID headquarters here. No arrests have been made. “We will continue to question the suspended personnel on Saturday, and we hope to crack the case soon. We are in the process of identifying the mastermind,” a senior CID officer said.
The CID sleuths have detained 20 suspects, including former Pre-University lecturers and students, for questioning. They picked up the suspects after tracking them down through WhatsApp, where images of handwritten question papers were circulated. Based on the inputs from the cyber crime team, CID officials questioned the suspects and corroborated their version by going through their mobile phone call record details.
Since the first question paper leakage on March 21, the CID has been under immense pressure. Now, with the second leakage, the Chief Minister is personally monitoring the progress of the case.
The investigators are trying to establish if there are any links between the March 21 and March 31 cases. Handwriting analysis has shown that both the papers (images of which were widely shared among students on social media platforms) were written by different people. “Both the papers were neatly written and we feel that the writers are experts in the subjects,” said a senior CID official.
