The Kunnamangalam police here have arrested three more persons, including an office superintendent of a self-financing college at Narikunni in the district, in connection with the leak of the sixth semester B.Com. question papers of Calicut University.
Investigators said Punnasseri Thaufik Thasnim Ali, 32; P.C. Shakeer, 21; and P. Mohammed Ashiq, 21; were nabbed on Thursday, taking the total number of those arrested to seven. The police had earlier arrested four students of two other colleges.
Thasnim Ali, office superintendent of Baithul Izzu Arts and Science College and a prime accused, allegedly took out the question papers of Auditing and Income Tax Law and Practice from the store of the college and distributed it to these students on the eve of the examination. They then reportedly distributed the question paper with answers to other students for prices between Rs.5,000 and 10,000, sources said.
The issue came to light when invigilators caught two students of Kalanthode MES College of Arts and Science for malpractice inside the examination hall on March 19 and 20. Subsequently, a committee of the Calicut University Syndicate carried out an inquiry and handed over the case to the Kunnamangalam police.
There were allegations that the police were soft-pedalling the case following political pressure. It was suspected that the question papers, with answers, were distributed among several students in Malappuram and Kozhikode districts. The four students in custody had appeared for the examination. They had obtained the question papers and answers from the other accused, namely, Azhar Sharif, 21, and C. Hashim, 20, of the Kalanthode college; and Mohammed Danish, 21, and P.K. Shameer, of Muhammed Abdurahman Memorial Orphanage College, Manassery. All the arrested were remanded in judicial custody by the Judicial First Class Magistrate, Kunnamangalam.
