TV
In a significant revelation in the OTET 2025 question paper leak case, Crime Branch DG Vinaytosh Mishra on Sunday revealed crucial findings, linking Board of Secondary Education (BSE) Vice President Nihar Ranjan Mohanty with the prime accused Jitan Maharana, a data entry operator.
According to the DG, BSE Vice-President and the data entry operator were in regular contact, with call records showing they communicated nearly 100 times over the past 2–3 months, many of which occurred outside official working hours.
“Despite Jitan not being part of the exam operations team, he remained in close contact with the Vice President,” said Mishra, questioning the unexplained frequency of communication between the two. He further stated that Mohanty admitted to suspecting Jitan’s role in the matter, yet continued to allow access.
“The BSE Vice President was responsible for setting the question. The password, which was sent by the press, was with Nihar Mohanty. He was supposed to download the question for proofreading and later delete the same. But he did not delete the question after sending it to the press. Secondly, he gave access to the laptop to Jitan. He has no role in the examination,” Mishra said.
“When we checked call details, we found 100 calls between him and Jitan in the last three months. Jitan has confessed to the crime,” the top cop said.
The Crime Branch has also confirmed that Mohanty had access to the password related to the OTET question papers and was supposed to delete it after its use, but failed to do so.
Moreover, it has been revealed that Jitan Maharana was granted permission to use the official laptop, a key tool believed to have been used in the leak.
DG Mishra said the financial transactions between the two are under investigation to determine whether any monetary exchanges took place as part of the paper leak conspiracy.
The Crime Branch has so far arrested eight individuals, including Nihar Mohanty and Jitan Maharana.
The Special OTET-2025, originally scheduled for July 20, was postponed indefinitely after the leak came to light, affecting over 75,000 in-service teachers across the state.
