Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Crime Branch on Saturday questioned Nihar Ranjan Mohanty, vice president of the Board of Secondary Education (BSE), Odisha in connection with the OTET (Odisha Teacher Eligibility Test) question paper leak case.
Sources said Mohanty visited the Crime Branch office after being summoned by the investigating agency for interrogation. He was reportedly questioned by Crime Branch sleuths at length in connection with the case.
Several important documents related to the case were also stated to have been examined during the inquiry.
The Crime Branch has so far arrested seven persons, including office bearers of a teachers’ union, in connection with the question paper leak case.
It may be noted that the Special OTET-2025, earlier scheduled to be held on July 20 for in-service primary school teachers across the state, was cancelled abruptly and postponed indefinitely following a late-night notification. The announcement followed the recent leak of the special OTET question paper, which led to the postponement of the exam scheduled for July 20.
The decision left more than 75,000 candidates in shock and dismay. As many as 75,403 in-service primary teachers had applied for the Special OTET, which was scheduled to be held across 193 centres in 30 districts of the state. Many candidates had already travelled to their respective centres, only to be informed late at night about the cancellation.
On Friday, the board had officially announced that the Special OTET 2025 will now be conducted on August 31. The examination will be held in two sittings on the same day.
