Telangana police have arrested a teacher for leaking the question paper of 10th class examination in Vikarabad district on Monday.
Within minutes after the exam began, the question paper was leaked through WhatsApp by a teacher who was on duty as invigilator at an exam centre at a government school in Tandur.
Seven minutes after the exam began, the photo of the Telugu language question paper was sent on WhatsApp.
As the word spread about this, officials of the education department and police conducted an investigation.
On a complaint by the district education officer, police booked a case against the invigilator, a science teacher, and arrested him.
The teacher allegedly took a picture of the exam paper and shared it on WhatsApp to help one of his students appearing for the exam.
Police were investigating if the question paper was circulated to more candidates. Other teachers and staff on duty at the exam centre were being questioned.
The Second School Certificate (SSC) exam began across Telangana on Monday. The exam began at 9.30 a.m. and concluded at 12.30 p.m.
A total of 4,94,620 students appeared for Secondary School Certificate (SSC) exams in Telangana. Authorities arranged 2,652 exam centres.
The 10th class exams also started in Andhra Pradesh on Monday. More than 6.64 lakh students are writing the exam across the state.
Last year, question paper leak during SSC exams had rocked Andhra Pradesh. About 70 people, including 45 teachers were arrested for their alleged role in the leak in a few districts.
Managements of some private schools in collusion with few teachers of government schools had allegedly tried to help their students score good marks by leaking the papers soon after the papers reached the exam centres.
The teachers on duty at exam centres allegedly took photos of the question paper and sent them into a few WhatsApp groups within a few minutes of the start of the exam.
The SSC question paper leak from a centre in Telangana occurred at a time when question paper leak of various exams conducted by Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) has rocked the state and triggered protests by opposition parties, student and youth groups.