Bhubaneswar, Aug 1: The Odisha Crime Branch has made another arrest in connection with the Special OTET (Odisha Teacher Eligibility Test) question paper leak case, taking the total number of arrests to seven. The latest accused is Prashant Kumar Khamari, a government upper primary school teacher from Bhejipadar in Bhawanipatna, Kalahandi district.

According to DIG, Crime Branch, Khamari played a key role in the criminal conspiracy along with Bijay Kumar Mishra, former working president of the State Ex-Cadre Teacher Association, and others. He allegedly handwrote computerised versions of the leaked question papers and sold them to several candidates, mostly teachers who had previously failed the Special OTET exam. Investigators have found that Khamari transferred ₹99,000 via PhonePe to Bijay Mishra, a sum collected from these candidates.

The Crime Branch has seized Khamari’s mobile phone and obtained handwriting samples, which will be sent for examination to the Handwriting Bureau and Cyber Forensics Lab.

Earlier, six others including Jitan Maharana, Bijaya Kumar Mishra, Sanatan Bisoi, Ramaji Prasad Gupta, Ajay Kumar Sahu, and Jayanta Kumar Rout were arrested. The investigation reveals the racket was active in multiple districts and involved transactions worth lakhs of rupees. Further arrests are likely.

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