On March 10, a fire at a teacher's apartment in Virar West, Maharashtra destroyed answer sheets for the Maharashtra Higher Secondary School Certificate (HSC) Examination.

A fire broke out in the teacher's house, destroying over 170 commerce answer sheets stored on the sofa.

In this case, a First Investigation Report (FIR) has been filed at the Bolinj police station in Virar against the school instructor and principal for taking examination papers home to check, which is against the rules.

Mugdha Lele, the school teacher, and Priya Rodrigues, the administrator, are both from Utkarsh School in Virar West.

According to regulations, school teachers are not permitted to take examination papers home for correction. The education board has also launched an investigation into the issue.

According to the police, the incident took place on March 10 between 1 and 2 pm, while Lele, the teacher, was outside with her family. She kept all of the papers on the sofa.

“Suddenly, a fire broke out due to a short circuit in the electrical board. The fire spread through the house, and the sofa caught fire. Around 170 answer sheets, which were kept on the sofa, were completely burnt. The fire brigade rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire,” a police officer told Mid Day.

The officer added, “All the answer sheets belonged to HSC commerce students. The school authorities have also informed the board.”

“As per the rules, HSC board papers are not allowed to be taken home for checking. We have booked school teacher Mugdha Lele for taking HSC answer sheets home for checking and principal Priya Rodrigues for allowing her to do so. We have also informed the education board about the incident,” District Commissioner of Police Jayant Bajbale said.

“Prima facie, the fire brigade's report suggests that the fire broke out due to a short circuit. We are investigating the matter further,” DCP Bajbale added.