On February 16, Cuttack police arrested four YouTubers and a school teacher for their alleged involvement in leaking half-yearly examination question papers of Classes VIII to X students.
The accused were identified as YouTubers Sahil Mishra of Sambalpur, Jyoti Ranjan Barik from Bhadrak, Susanta Bishi from Titilagarh, Sai Sankar Patra from Berhampur, and assistant teacher Ghanshyam Behera, posted at the panchayat high school in Mayurbhanj’s Rairangpur, according to a report by The New Indian Express.
The matter came to light when the general secretary of the Odisha Secondary School Teachers’ Association (OSSTA) filed a complaint with Daraghabazar police on November 1, alleging the question papers were leaked on some YouTube channels when the half-yearly examinations were underway from October 28 to November 4 last year.
The complainant had mentioned the names of YouTube channels: Smart Study Learn, Vibrate Education, and Educational Gyan. Based on the complaint, Cyber Crime and Economic Offence police registered a case in this connection under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), Information Technology (IT) Act, and Odisha Conduct of Examination (Amendment) Act.
Police in action
The police then requested Google to share the details of the YouTube channels where the leaked question papers were uploaded. After receiving information about the names and phone numbers of the accused YouTubers, police asked the mobile service providers to provide their customer acquisition forms and call details records.
Following this, they verified the addresses and nabbed the four of them.
While Sahil ran a YouTube channel by the name Educational Gyan, three other such channels — Smart Study Learn, Smart Odia, and Vibrant Education — were being run by Jyoti, Susanta, and Sai Sankar, respectively.
Giving more details about the investigation which is underway, police said, “During interrogation, the YouTubers revealed they had received the question papers from Behera through a Telegram channel. Subsequently, Behera too was arrested from Rairangpur. However, another teacher involved is currently at large and efforts are on to nab him."
