Bengaluru: Question paper deal struck at minister's office

BENGALURU: The three accused arrested in connection with the leak of second PU chemistry question paper have reportedly told the investigators that the deal was struck in the office of Medical Education Minister Dr. Sharanprakash Patil in Vidhana Soudha.

Official sources said that the accused PT teacher Manjunath revealed that he was contacted by another accused, Obalaraju, the officer on special duty to the medical education minister.

“Obalaraju asked Manjunath to meet him at the Minister’s office a few days before the exams. When he went there, Obalaraju asked him to arrange chemistry question paper for his daughter and he also paid an advance of Rs 3 lakh and promised that he would pay the remaining Rs 7 lakh after he gets the paper,” an official said.

On the morning of March 20, a day before the exam, Manjunath managed to get the question paper from one of the middlemen. “The middleman reportedly dictated him the questions and Manjunath wrote them down.

The same evening, Manjunath met Obalaraju and Rudrappa in J.P. Nagar and the duo took photographs of the written questions, and paid Manjunath the remaining amount. From there, the papers reached the children of Obalaraju and Rudrappa, who also sold the paper to other students,” the official said.

Obalaraju and Manjunath had exchanges phone calls several times in a span of few days before March 20 and it will work as strong evidence, he said.
It is said that Manjunath also sold the paper to hundreds of students for several thousands of rupees.

“Rs 10 lakh found in his bank account was credited by multiple depositors. Our teams are on the job to find out those who deposited the money. Six of them have been traced and detained. They are being questioned,” the official said.

The CID officials have found out that around 4,000 students had access to the question paper before the exams and are investigating in detail to find each of them. The officials are yet to know whether Manjunath had any role in the second leak that happened on March 31, when there was a reexamination.

More than 20 people in racket?
The CID, which has got the custody of the accused trio till April 13, has got credible leads that there are more than 20 people involved in the racket.
“The number of arrests will surely go up in the next few days.

The work of gathering concrete evidence against the suspects is on and they will be arrested soon,” the official said. There are also reports that an upcoming Kannada film actor, identified as Sanjay, had also bought the question paper to help his nephew. The investigating teams are trying to trace him.

Shivakumar leaked papers in 2012 too
Shivakumar is also the prime accused in the leak of second PU biology, mathematics and physics question papers in 2012. He got access to the question papers by paying the staff of treasury office, where the question paper bundles were kept.

The staff used to open the room, where the question papers were kept, in the evenings after all other staff members left. Shivakumar’s men snuck inside the room, opened a question paper bundle and took photocopies. Shivakumar circulated the question papers across the state as he had contacts in several districts.

Obalaraju removed as special officer
Medical Education Minister Dr Sharan Prakash Patil has removed his special officer Obalaraju immediately after he was arrested by the CID police in connection with the second PU Chemistry question paper leak.

Mr Patil said here on Tuesday, “I am shocked by the incident. I personally don’t know Obalaraju. I appointed him a special officer based on the recommendation of former PWD Minister C.M. Udasi.”

“I am embarrassed by the development. Soon after news of Obalaraju’s arrest came out, I directed my officials to remove him immediately. There is no question of protecting anybody. The government has taken a serious note of the question paper leak and we will bring all the perpetrators to book,” he said.

“I will cooperate with the CID police if they want further information. I have also ordered an inquiry against Obalaraju. I don’t know his background. I made a mistake appointing him without checking his background,” he said.