The office of the Minister for Medical Education Sharanprakash R. Patil at Vidhana Soudha was used to secure the leaked chemistry question paper by his Officer on Special Duty (OSD), the investigation by the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) has revealed.
A suspect, Manjunath, claimed to have met Mr. Patil’s OSD Obalaraju at the Minister’s office to finalise the deal, sources said. Obalaraju had used the office landline on March 20 to discuss the modalities on receiving the question paper from Manjunath, sources said.
In another development, a key accused in the 2012 question paper leak, Shivakumar is emerging as the key person in the case after perusal of the call detail record (CDR) of Manjunath, sources said. Inquiries revealed that Shivakumar — a retired lecturer who runs a chain of tutorials — maintained close links with a few police officers, one of whom is among the beneficiaries in the chemistry paper leak.
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Shivakumar’s CDR also reveal that he was in regular touch with officials of the treasury, revenue, public works and PU departments. In return for the leak, Shivakumar sought legal and official favours from these officials, sources said.
However, what has sent CID officials into a tizzy is the fact that the three suspects in their custody have not only confessed to playing a part in the leak, but also claimed that question paper leaks happen every year. Some of the beneficiaries, including a small screen actor who has been questioned, could be made approvers in the case, a CID officer said, adding that 14 persons, including a few suspended officials of Department of Pre-University Education (DPUE), associates of Manjunath and Shivakumar, have been detained for questioning. The police custody of the three arrested – Obalaraju, Manjunath and PWD official Rudrappa – was extended to April 13 by the 7th Additional Metropolitan Magistrate.