New Delhi: The police have arrested two teachers of a private school and tutor of a coaching centre from outer Delhi for for allegedly leaking CBSE’s Class 12 economics paper over an hour before the March 26 exam.

Hours later, the ministry of human resource development (HRD) responded to the breakthrough in the investigation and suspended Central Board of Secondary Education officials who was supervising the examination centre in question. The official, KS Rana, was found to be “lax” in his duties, tweeted Anil Swarup, secretary, school education and literacy, HRD ministry.

The two teachers opened the sealed question papers, took photos on their mobile phones, and shared them with a tutor in a private coaching centre in Bawana. The three also solved the paper, and forwarded the question papers and answers to other students through WhatsApp for between Rs 2,000 and Rs 5,000, police said.

“Rana was the custodian of the question papers. It is hard to believe the leak could have happened without his connivance. We will question him soon,” said a senior investigator who asked not to be named. The teachers have been identified as Rishabh, 29, and Rohit, 26, and the coaching centre tutor as 26-year-old TauqeerHasan, police said, giving only one name for the two accused teachers.

Hasan taught math at Easy Classes, a coaching centre in Asthal Colony in Bawana. Rishabh taught physics and Rohit taught math at the Mother Khazani Convent School in Mungeshpur, along the Delhi-Haryana border. The chairperson of the school, ChaudharySwarup Singh, said the leak happened “outside the institution” but did not question the police’s contention that the teachers were involved.