Paper leak scam shameful, guilty to be brought to book: Omar Abdullah

Srinagar: Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has termed the alleged examination paper scam in Board of Professional Examinations as "shameful" but assured that the guilty would be brought to book. "The scam is very shameful and it is unfortunate that it happened during my tenure," Omar said at a public rally in Tral town of Pulwama district yesterday.

Omar, however, assured that the culprits behind the scam will be punished during his tenure which ends with Assembly elections next year. The Chief Minister also expressed satisfaction that the scam had come to light through the mechanism of Right to Information (RTI) put in place by his government. "The scam has not been unearthed by any media organization or any political party. The scam was exposed because the government initiated an investigation following a complaint filed through RTI," he added. Omar said it was shameful that students, with the connivance of the some BOPEE officials, had fraudulently managed to get into professional courses. "They have tainted a noble profession," he said. Crime Branch has arrested one person and is questioning the former Chairman of the BOPEE Mushtaq Ahmad Peer in connection with the allegations that the examination papers for Common Entrance Test (CET) 2012 were sold for hefty sums to 12 candidates, mostly hailing from Anantnag district. The Crime Branch has widened the scope of probe to include more students from previous batches of 2010 and 2011. Peer, a former employee of Kashmir University, was handpicked by the state government in February 2009 to head the BOPEE, which conducts entrance examinations to various professional courses like MBBS, BE, BVSc and BSc Agriculture.