Karachi police arrest four over alleged matric and inter exam paper leak network

KARACHI: Karachi police said on Monday they had arrested four members of what they described as an organised network accused of leaking Matric and Intermediate Board examination papers and taking millions of rupees from students in return.

According to police, the Karachi police chief had tasked the Special Investigation Unit (SIU) with tracing the network. Investigators said the operation uncovered 10 groups that were allegedly sharing examination papers with students through WhatsApp on the night before exams.

SIU Senior Superintendent of Police Samiullah Soomro said complaints related to online fraud had been coming in for some time. He said the papers being circulated were found to be 70% to 90% accurate.

Soomro said the four arrested suspects had first set up eight WhatsApp groups, adding more than 1,300 students to them. He said students were told a night before an examination that the paper had been leaked and was available with the group administrator. Those interested were then asked to contact the admin through direct message to get the paper.

The officer said investigators later found two more WhatsApp groups during the probe, bringing the total to 10. He added that police had so far arrested the ringleaders of four of those groups.

Probe widens to possible board links

Soomro said police suspected that some people linked to the Matric and Intermediate Boards might also have been involved, saying the papers may have reached the suspects through them.

He also said that during questioning, one of the suspects stated that he had generated the papers himself using artificial intelligence. According to Soomro, the suspect said he used past papers and guess papers to create new papers with AI, which was why the leaked material was not fully accurate. Police said the suspect then sold those papers to students through WhatsApp groups.

The leaked papers were 70% to 90% accurate.

The SSP said the suspects received money from students through online payment methods and added that police had obtained records of those transactions as part of the investigation.

Arrests made from multiple areas

Police said the main number used to run the WhatsApp groups was registered in the United Kingdom, and efforts were under way to obtain its details.

Soomro said police recovered cash, mobile phones, hard drives and transaction records from the arrested men. He said the suspects were taken into custody in Malir, Surjani Town, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and New Karachi.

According to the SIU officer, the suspects are to be produced before a court on Tuesday for physical remand as the investigation continues.