Key mastermind of Odisha police recruitment exam paper leak arrested; total 123

THe Odisha CID on fri said iv persons feature been arrested in connectedness with the leak out of the question paper in the police sub-inspector recruitment exam, exposing an elaborate racket that charged aspirants between ₹20 lakh and ₹25 lakh for access to the leaked papers.The racket came to light on September 30 when Odisha Police stopped three air-conditioned buses carrying 117 people near the Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border who were allegedly heading to Hyderabad to obtain leaked copies of the sub-inspector examination scheduled for days later.Since then, 123 people, including 114 candidates, have been arrested.On Thursday, CID sleuths nabbed Muna Mohanty, who allegedly ran a syndicate with Srikanta Maharana alias Rinku, Arabinda Das, Biswaranjan Behera, T Abhimanyu Dora, and Priyadarsini Samal.Sankar Prusty, described by the police as the mastermind of the racket, has been on the run since September 30 along with his wife.The examination was conducted by the Odisha Police Recruitment Board (OPRB), which outsourced the work to ITI Limited, a government-owned telecommunications company based in Kolkata.ITI subsequently contracted Silicon Techlab Private Limited in Bhubaneswar, which further subcontracted to Panchsoft Technologies Private Limited. Though Odisha has asked its recruitment agencies not to outsource the recruitment operations to a third party, an OPRB official said the organisation’s limited capacity necessitated engaging ITI Limited. “We have sought replies from ITI as to why it again outsourced the exam to a third party,” the official said.CID additional DG Vinaytosh Mishra said the syndicate headed by Muna Mohanty and Sankar Prusty worked together to leak the question papers from the day it was prepared.“Mohanty’s agents collected original certificates and blank cheques from aspirants in exchange for leaked question papers. Candidates had to pay anything between ₹20 lakh and ₹25 lakh for the leaked papers.The Crime Branch added that Priyadarsini Samal, who posed as Mohanty’s sister, played a crucial role in the network by collecting money, returning certificates, and helping the accused evade arrest,” said Mishra.“Shankar Prusty ran multiple fake online test centres in Bhubaneswar, Raghunathpur, Berhampur, Balasore, Puri, Gajapati, Cuttack, and Bhawanipatna that were reportedly used to facilitate pre-exam manipulation and monitor candidates. The entire SI recruitment exam scam was done in 2 modules - Vizianagaram in Andhra Pradesh and Digha in West Bengal. Shankar Prusty monitored the operation from Delhi. Muna Mohanty was in-charge of the Vizianagaram module, while Arvind Das was heading the Digha module,” said the senior police officer.While 114 candidates being taken to Vizianagaram have been arrested, he said there were 110 more candidates who were supposed to go to Digha in Bengal for pre-exam coaching on leaked questions. They are on the run following the September 30 arrests.“The CID has acquired detailed lists of all involved candidates, and once verification is complete, further arrests will be made,” said Mishra..Officials said the leak of the sub-inspector examination paper pointed to systemic vulnerabilities.Over the last decade, there have been at least three instances in which the state government had to cancel recruitment exams due to allegations of irregularities. In March 2015, the police constable recruitment test was cancelled after a leak, leading to the arrest of six people, including police constables. In January 2019, the Odisha Teacher Eligibility Test (OTET) was cancelled over similar allegations.In July 2023, the recruitment test for junior engineer (Civil) conducted by Odisha Staff Selection Commission was cancelled after police busted a racket at a hotel in Digha beach, West Bengal. The CID arrested 17 persons, including Vishal Kumar Chaurasia of Bihar’s Rural Works Department, who was described as the mastermind.Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leaders blame the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).BJD spokesman Dr Lenin Mohanty said the BJP government has failed to conduct even a single examination properly since coming to power last year.“From OPSC to OSSC and OSSSC, all recruitment bodies have been marred by controversy,” he said, listing examinations for revenue inspector, amin, ICDS supervisor, excise inspector, police sub-inspector, Odisha Civil Services, SDIPRO and OTET as examples of administrative lapses or paper leaks.Odisha BJP chief Manmohan Samal blamed “institutional decay” during the BJD’s long stint in power, saying that leaks occurred in 2019 and 2023 under BJD rule as well.