The Staff Selection Commission (SSC) cancelled the written examination conducted on March 20 for the post of sub-inspectors and assistant sub-inspectors -- SSC CPO (SI/ASI) -- after images of a leaked question paper went viral on WhatsApp and a social networking site.
The re-examination for candidates who had appeared for the test on Sunday will now be held on June 5, the SSC announced on Monday.
No police complaint, however, has been lodged in the case even two days after the leak, said sources in the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), under which the SSC functions.
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While the SSC claimed that it “suo motu” decided to cancel the examination, Neetu Singh, the director of a coaching institute, KD Campus, claimed credit for exposing the leak.
Speaking to The Hindu , she said one of her students forwarded her an image of a question paper on Sunday morning after a fellow passenger in a metro train shared it with him.
“The question paper was being widely circulated much before the exam was conducted. One of my students came across one page of the question paper and sent it to me (via WhatsApp). I immediately suspected that it was a leaked question paper and uploaded the page on my Facebook wall, asking my 1.25 lakh ‘followers’ if they knew the questions were for which exam,” Ms. Singh said.
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Later in the day, some of her students pointed out that the same questions had appeared in the afternoon session of the examination for recruitment of SIs in the Delhi Police and Central Armed Police Forces and ASIs in the Central Industrial Security Force.
Ms. Singh alleged that she had been hearing from her students about SSC paper leaks for the last three-four years, but this was the first time she had “evidence” with her.
“I posted the question paper on my Facebook timeline at 8.57 am on Sunday, and the exam was held in the afternoon. Even my WhatsApp account will show that my student had sent me the question paper at 8.52 am,” she pointed out.
Ms. Singh said no one from the SSC or the police had contacted her so far. “If the SSC does not act within a week, I will take the matter to court,” she said on Tuesday.
Ms. Singh’s Facebook posts on the issue also drew cynical comments from some who suspected that she had a hand in the leak.
Meanwhile, disappointment was clearly visible among the aspirants with many of them saying that their efforts had gone in vain and that it was unfair to those who had been preparing hard for the exam.
“Given how widely and openly the question paper was circulated, candidates like me would only face disappointment no matter how hard and honestly we prepare,” said Alok Ranjan, a candidate from Laxmi Nagar, who sat for the SSC exam on Sunday.