Karnataka PU board director shunted out over exam paper leak

Bengaluru: Karnataka Pre-University (PU) board director Pallavi Akurathi was transferred on Friday night a day after chemistry question paper of the second year PUC re-exam was leaked on Thursday.

According to an official order, Akurathi, a 2009 IAS batch officer, has been transferred with immediate effect and posted as deputy secretary in the department of personnel and administrative reforms.

State Transport and Road Safety Commissioner Ramegowda will concurrently be the new PU board director.

Ramegowda, a 2004 IAS batch officer, who was PU board director in 2003, has been also appointed as head of a three-member team to oversee the re-examination of chemistry paper on April 12.

Akurathi`s transfer was made along that of eight other senior IAS officers in various other departments.

Akurathi cancelled the chemistry exam held on March 21 after some students alerted her that its question paper was leaked at Ballari in the state`s northern region, and Kolar, about 100km away from here.

Though the re-exam was re-scheduled to March 31 from March 29, a tip-off by CID sleuths early Thursday that even a hand-written version of the re-exam question paper was being circulated in Bengaluru and Tumakuru through WhatsApp, forcing the board to cancel it two hours before it was to commence at 9 a.m..

About 40 officials of the board from joint director to peon were suspended and the CID, which is already probing the March 21 paper leak, has been told to inquire into the leak of the re-exam paper.

Earlier in the day, the CID questioned about 20 officials of the board`s exam division on the entire process of framing the question paper to printing and its distribution to the exam centres in each of the 30 districts across the state.