BALASORE: Balasore police on Saturday arrested eight more persons including two government teachers for their involvement in the question paper leak of the junior engineer (civil) main examination conducted by the Odisha Staff Selection Commission (OSSC).
The government teachers are Bijay Mallick (25) and Ajay Biswal (43) of Balasore. The other six accused work in private companies in different districts. Earlier, police had arrested 17 persons including the mastermind of the question paper leak racket Vishal Kumar Chaurasia.
Balasore SP Sagarika Nath said the eight arrested persons had contacted candidates to supply question papers before the scheduled date and time of the examination, which was conducted on July 16 but cancelled by OSSC after the scam surfaced.
A letter has been sent to the district education officer of Balasore for departmental action against Ajay and Bijay for their involvement in the racket. The SP said for further investigation, police will seek remand of Chaurasia and five other accused. Police will also pray for a warrant to search a location outside Odisha.
Nath further said the investigation so far suggests that the gang members used two modes to contact the candidates. One was through local contacts via the existing ‘manpower consultancy services’. The other was through various online study groups on social media platforms like Telegram and WhatsApp.
Some more individuals, from Odisha and outside, involved in the racket have also been identified. Further arrests will be made in due course of the investigation. So far, 25 persons involved in the racket have been apprehended by Sahadevkhunta police, she added.