Obtaining an admit card fraudulently to appear in the annual matriculation examination for her boyfriend proved a girl dear as she was caught red-handed during the examination.
The incident was reported from Dhanupali in Sambalpur. Preliminary investigation suggested that the girl from Tilia village under the Rengali police limits was appearing in the examination in place of her beau.
Both the girl and the boy were arrested being booked under Sections 419, 420, 468 and 471 of IPC read with Section 9 of the Orissa Conduct of Examination Act-1988.
The boy candidate Laxman Meher of Mahulmunda village under the Sambalpur Town police station who was reading at the State Institute of Open School had been allotted his examination centre at the Commissioner Colony High School in the Dhanupali area. But his girlfriend Kamala Seth allegedly obtained a forged admit card in his name and went to sit for the examination.
During verification of admit cards before commencement of examination, the girl identified herself as ‘Laxmi Meher’ as mentioned in the document. When the examiners raised suspicion over the candidate, she evaded their question saying ‘error’ in the original admit card, which was issued in name of ‘Laxman Meher’.
The girl’s claim was proved false during scrutiny as the detailed information mentioned in the original admit card available with the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) authorities was mismatched with her admit card.
The examination invigilator left the candidate’s answer sheet unsigned and informed the examination centre superintendent in this regard, following which a written complaint was lodged with the Dhanupali police.
The police registered a case and arrested Laxman Meher and Kamala Seth. During interrogation, the girl confessed to the malpractice she attempted to help her boyfriend pass the examination.
Kamala forged the original admit card by editing her name and the photograph of the actual candidate. She was caught by the invigilator of the examination centre, according to police.