Provisions under the National Security Act (NSA), 1980 were on Thursday, 28 April slapped against three people for their alleged involvement in leaking the Uttar Pradesh state board's class 12 English question paper, news agency ANI reported.
An official statement by the police stated,
"It is noteworthy that the examination of English Intermediate Board of Secondary Education Prayagraj to be held on March 30 had to be cancelled in 24 districts due to the question paper leak on social media platforms. A case was registered in this regard at Police Station Bhimpura, Nagra following which the NSA provisions have been slapped against the accused."
The Ballia police in Uttar Pradesh had arrested the accused, identified as Ravindra Nath Singh, Rajiv Pratap alias Raju and Nirbhay Narayan Singh, on 3 April.
Nirbhay Narayan Singh, who is reportedly the main accused with the leak, managed the Maharani Devi Smarak Inter College and allegedly got hold of the question paper ahead of the test.
Consequently, Singh, in a bid to make profits, got the paper solved by English teachers and sold answer sheets between Rs 25,000 and Rs 30,000 per student, ANI reported.
According to the report, Singh colluded with Rajiv Pratap, another accused in the case to distribute the question paper through social media and the two managed their transactions through Paytm.
After cancelling the board exam in 24 districts, the re-examination was scheduled for 13 April. People belonging to the districts where the test was conducted, sat for a re-examination on the same day.
(With inputs from ANI.)
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