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Uttar Pradesh: Journalists who reported on leaked question papers arrested

Ballia edition of Amar Ujala had published the leaked paper in the morning of the day when examination was to be held from 2 P.M

Amar Ujala
Image Courtesy:news8plus.com

Senior journalist Digvijay Singh, who works with Amar Ujala has been the talk of social media today. He has been taken into custody and has accused the Uttar Pradesh police of harrasing and torturing him after he filed news reports on how the UP Board’s 12th class English question paper had leaked. Even as he was being taken away, he has accused the administration of being corrupt. 

The Ballia edition of Amar Ujala had published the leaked paper in the morning of the day the examination was to be held from 2 P.M. The news report even carried the coded serial numbers 316 ED and 316 EI. A day earlier on March 29, 2022 the paper had also published a solved copy of a Sanskrit question paper. It was reported that the Joint Director of Education Department of Azamgarh Division had accepted that the Sanskrit question paper was out in the investigation.

According to Singh, the UP police have been asking him from where he got the information. He replied, “From my sources,” speaking to fellow journalists when he was being taken into custody. 

He has levelled serious allegations on the Uttar Pradesh administration, especially those in charge in Ballia district. Instead of investigating the allegations of a paper leak as published in the news report, the UP Police have now arrested Amar Ujala journalists Digvijay Singh and Ajit Kumar Ojha from Ballia. According to news reports, another person identified as Manoj Gupta has also been picked up. It has been reported that so far, the administration has taken action against 22 accused in the leak case, including the two journalists.

The English paper was to be held on March 30, but got cancelled in 24 districts after it was leaked. According to Satya Hindi, these districts are Ballia, Etah, Baghpat, Badaun, Sitapur, Kanpur Dehat, Lalitpur, Chitrakot, Pratapgarh, Gonda, Azamgarh, Agra, Varanasi, Mainpuri, Mathura, Aligarh, Ghaziabad, Shamli, Shahjahanpur, Unnao, Jalaun, Mahoba, Ambedkar Nagar and Gorakhpur.

Now the police action against the journalists has raised questions on the police administration and the media fraternity staged a protest at Ballia Kotwali. Ajit Ojha’ has alleged that the police also misbehaved with him and brought him to the Balia Kotwali. He alleged that the administration also sought the ‘leaked question paper’ from him, and that the police dragged him to the police station “like a criminal”.

According to news reports this seems to be an attempt to divert attention and pin the blame on the journalists. The matter is being investigated by a special task force. The issue has also been raised by the Opposition leaders including Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, BSP chief Mayawati and Aam Aadmi Party’s UP in-charge Sanjay Singh who have all accused the government for such corrupt practices.

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