UP Board Class 12 English paper leak case: 7 more arrested, total 24 held so far

A day after the Uttar Pradesh Board Class 12 English exam paper was leaked in Ballia district of the state, seven more people, including two local journalists have been arrested in the case, said the police. Reportedly, a total of 24 people have been held in the connection with incident so far. 

The English exam which was scheduled to be held from 2pm to 5.15 pm in the second shift across 75 districts of the state, was cancelled in 24 districts on Wednesday following the paper leak. 

The districts in which the exam was cancelled included Agra, Mainpuri, Mathura, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Bagpat, Badaun, Shahjahanpur, Unnao, Sitapur, Lalitpur, Mahoba, Jalaun, Chitrakoot, Ambedkarnagar, Pratapgarh, Gonda, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Ballia, Varanasi, Kanpur Dehat, Etah and Shamli. 

According to the director of secondary education Vinay Kumar Pandey, the exam was cancelled in 24 districts on “suspicion of paper leak” of series 316 ED and 316 EI of Intermediate English exam in Ballia. 

The exam will now be held on April 13 in these districts, said an official, as quoted by PTI. 

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath has ordered the Special Task Force (STF) of the state police to probe the case. He has also invoked the National Security Act against the culprits.

Also read: UP Board exams: Over 77,000 students skip exams on Day 5

As many as 51,92,689 students, including 27,81,654 of high school and 24,11,035 of intermediate, are registered to appear in the UP Board Examinations-2022. According to the board officials, the students registered for high school examination includes 15,53,198 boys and 12,28,456 girls. On the other hand, students registered for the intermediate examination include 13,24,200 boys and 10,86,835 girls.

The UP board examination that began on March 24 as per the original exam schedule are to be completed in 15 to 20 working days. A total of 8,373 exam centres have been set up across the state.

(With inputs from agencies)