An acting principal of a school in Anuradhapura District accused of leaking the Grade 11 final term test papers for Sinhala and Buddhism subjects in schools across the North Central Province (NCP), has been remanded until February 07.

This order was issued by Anuradhapura Chief Magistrate Nalaka Sanjeewa Jayasuriya, after the accused was produced before the court today (04).

The suspect was arrested and produced before the court on allegations of causing a financial loss exceeding Rs. 11.5 million to the government by deliberately tampering with sealed examination papers and forwarding them to a tuition class teacher in Thambuthgama area via WhatsApp.

According to the Anuradhapura Divisional Crimes Unit, preliminary investigations have revealed that the suspect broke the seals of the exam paper parcels at his school, used a teacher’s mobile phone to take photographs, and sent them to the tuition teacher in question. 

Additionally, the suspect allegedly took another exam paper home, photographed it using his daughter’s mobile phone, and shared the images via WhatsApp. He reportedly resealed the parcels meticulously after extracting the papers, police told the court.

As a result of the leak, education authorities were forced to suspend the affected examination papers for the entire province, leading to significant financial repercussions. 

Police stated that further arrests are expected as investigations continue into other individuals potentially involved in this illegal activity.

The suspect has been charged under the Public Property Act, while Anuradhapura Police is intensifying efforts to apprehend other suspects linked to the incident.