OSSC question papers leaked from printing press: Balasore SP

The Balasore Police on Thursday claimed to have solved the OSSC question paper leak case and revealed that the leak happened from a printing press outside Odisha.

As per reports, the Balasore Police arrested eight more persons including the mastermind behind the leak of the question paper of the Odisha Staff Selection Commission (OSSC) JE (Civil) Main Written Examination. All the accused have been arrested from Bihar while the mastermind in the case is a Bihar government employee.

With this, the total arrests reached 17.

It is pertinent to mention here that Balasore SP, Sagarika Nath had earlier ruled out the involvement of OSSC employees in the leak.

Addressing the reporters, Nath said, “We have arrested eight more accused including the mastermind in the case. An employee of the printing press leaked the question papers and handed them over to the mastermind who belongs to the same village that of the press employee.”

"The gang’s modus operandi involves leaking question papers from printing presses. They had earlier leaked the question papers of Police sub-inspector and Assistant Sub-Inspector exams in Delhi from a printing press in Prayagraj. So, we have successfully identified the source of the question paper leak,” she said.

The police are continuing their investigation to ascertain the involvement of any other person in this case.

The Balasore Police will bring the accused on remand for further questioning to extract more facts on how they managed to leak the question papers and got the contact details of the aspirants.

On July 23, the OSSC cancelled the Main Written Examination for JE (Civil) conducted on July 16, 2023 after Balasore SP had confirmed the question paper leak.

The commission has also rescheduled the examination on September 3.