Court allows Crime Branch to take two accused of SOTET question leak on remand
The JMFC court in Cuttack has reportedly allowed the Odisha Crime Branch to take two accused of the Special Odisha Teacher’s Eligibility Test (OTET) question paper leak case on a two-days remand.
Cuttack: The JMFC court in Cuttack has reportedly allowed the Odisha Crime Branch to take two accused in the Special Odisha Teacher’s Eligibility Test (OTET) question paper leak case on a two-day remand.
The court has reportedly allowed the probe agency to take Jitan Moharana, a Data Entry Operator at BSE Cuttack, and Bijay Kumar Mishra, the Working President of State Ex-Cadre Teacher Association, on remand to further question them over the question paper leak.
It is to be noted here that both of them along with six others were arrested by the Odisha Crime Brach for their involvement in the case. Based on the input from Jitan Moharana, and his call records, the probe agency found Board of Secondary Education (BSE) Vice-President Nihar Ranjan Mohanty’s link in the case and arrested him.
The School & Mass Education Department of Odisha Government has suspended Nihar Ranjan Mohanty from his services with immediate effect. He is currently on a 14-day judicial custody.
Notably, the SOTET exam was slated to be held in two shifts (Paper-I and Paper-II) on July 20 (Sunday) across the state but it was postponed just a few hours before the commencement of the entrance examination after question paper along with their answers became viral in the late night of July 19.
The BSE, Odisha, however, has decided to conduct the postponed SOTET exam on August 31, 2025.
