The Uttar Pradesh Board Intermediate examination for English subject scheduled for Wednesday was cancelled in 24 districts of the state after the question paper was found to be leaked in Ballia, said officials.
The examination in the remaining 51 districts was conducted as per schedule, said the Uttar Pradesh government.
While the UP police Special Task Force was ordered to probe the matter, UP police said it had so far arrested 17 persons and lodged three FIRs in connection with the paper leak.
The districts where the examination was cancelled include major centres such as Agra, Mathura, Aligarh, Gorakhpur, Azamgarh, Ghaziabad and Varanasi.
The class 12 examination scheduled at 2 pm on Wednesday was cancelled upon apprehension of disclosure of question paper series 316 E D and 316 E I in Ballia, said Vinay Kumar Pandey, education director UP Madhyamik Shiksha Parishad. The question papers of this series had been sent to the said 24 districts.
The government suspended Ballia district inspector of schools Brijesh Kumar Mishra and said action under the National Security Act would be taken against those found guilty in the leak case.
ADG Law and Order Prashant Kumar said police were investigating the source of the paper leak and said it would be premature to speculate at this stage.
A senior official in Lucknow said the examination was conducted under tight security and the question papers were sealed with three layers of packing. “There was no question of lapse,” said, Aradhana Shukla, additional chief secretary, secondary education, adding that a probe would be conducted to find the unravel the leak.
Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav criticized the BJP government over the question paper leak. “The business of getting question papers leaked continues unabated even in the second innings of the BJP government in UP. The youth believe that the BJP deliberately does not want to conclude any examination as it has failed in providing employment,” Mr. Yadav said in a tweet.
