In a swift move, the Chittoor police on Friday arrested seven accused in the episode of “malpractice” of the Telugu paper of the ongoing Class X examinations, which was reported on April 27.
Of the seven, five are working as principals and vice-principals of some of the popular corporate schools in and around Tirupati, and two are government school teachers of GD Nellore mandal of the neighboring Chittoor district.
Addressing a press conference here, Deputy Inspector-General (DIG–Anantapur) M. Ravi Prakash and Superintendent of Police (Chittoor) Y. Rishant Reddy said the seven accused had allegedly formed a group to circulate the Telugu paper through social media so that the students of their schools writing examinations would be provided with answer slips at their respective centres.
According to the officials, five of the accused, identified as P. Suresh, K. Sudhakar, Arif, N. Giridhar Reddy, and K. Mohan (working as principals/vice-principals of Chaitanya and Narayana group of schools in Tirupati), had allegedly hired the services of Pawan Kumar Reddy and B. Somu (working as Secondary Grade Teachers at government schools in Gangadhara Nellore mandal of Chittoor district) to arrange the posting of the question papers on the WhatsApp.
For their clandestine service, the duo had reportedly been paid some cash in instalments. While in the act of doing so on April 27, the first day of the Class X examination schedule, Pawan Kumar Reddy took a snap of the Telugu paper on the mobile from the ZP High School centre at Nellepalle village of GD Nellore mandal and sent it on the said WhatsApp group, which however sneaked into other social media groups, ultimately attracting the attention of the officials and police.
District Educational Officer (Chittoor) Shriram Purushottam, who also received the question paper on his mobile, immediately complained to SP Rishant Reddy, which led to the investigation.
Immediately after the episode came to light around 11 a.m.. on April 27, a special party was formed with Deputy SP (Law and Order) N. Sudhakar Reddy along with Circle-Inspectors of Chittoor Urban and Rural police. After a thorough investigation, the accused were arrested in 48 hours. The police booked them under Section 408 of IPC (AP Public Examinations – Prevention of Malpractices).
Meanwhile, Collector M. Hari Narayanan on Friday held a video conference with all the education department personnel on invigilation duties and transport of question and answer papers and directed them to be cautious while discharging their duties. He said that those who would resort to malpractices or work for the private school managements with clandestine intent would be prosecuted under criminal proceedings.
