Special OTET Question Paper Leak Unfolds into Major Scam

The question paper leak of the Special Odisha Teachers Eligibility Test (OTET) has snowballed into a multi-layered scam, exposing deep-rooted irregularities allegedly involving senior officials of the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), members of the teachers' association, and a suspected nexus with an outsourced question-setting agency.

- STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

The Crime Branch, investigating the case, arrested another suspect on Friday—Prasant Kumar Khamari, a government school teacher from Kalahandi district—bringing the total number of arrests to seven. A day earlier, six individuals, including teachers association members and a data entry operator from the BSE's Cuttack office, were taken into custody.

Khamari is accused of circulating hand-written versions of the leaked question paper, which surfaced on social media platforms ahead of the OTET exam scheduled for 20 July, eventually leading to its cancellation. He allegedly collaborated with teachers' association leaders B.K. Mishra and Sanatan Bisoi. The data entry operator, Jitan Moharana, reportedly accessed and downloaded the question paper from the laptop of the BSE Vice President and passed it on.