PANAJI
While the promised administrative response to the Goa University examination paper leak remains elusive, the criminal investigation has made little headway, with police yet to gain access to crucial evidence, including a faculty locker allegedly used in the offence.
Police sources said the investigation has been hampered by the university’s reluctance to hand over the keys to a locker that allegedly contained question papers that were leaked by the accused. Besides several procedural steps still pending, sources also confirmed to The Goan that no arrest has so far been made in the case registered against Assistant Professor Pranav Naik.
"The investigating team had written to the GU internal committee, seeking the key/s, but it has so far not been complied with.
We are yet to gain access to the locker where question papers were allegedly stored...” the police said.
Meanwhile, the Khandeparkar-led committee completed its mandate, submitted its report, and formally wound up its work last year.
“All records and material collected during the inquiry were handed over to the Education Department... Once the inquiry was complete and the report submitted, the committee ceased to exist," another source revealed.
The Agassaim police had registered a criminal case against Naik on March 22, 2025, following a complaint filed by GU Registrar, Professor S N Dhuri. The FIR accused Naik of trespassing, housebreaking, forgery and cheating.
As per the complaint, Naik had allegedly made duplicate keys to the cabins of multiple faculty members without their consent and unlawfully accessed those cabins. The FIR also alleged that he had breached faculty privacy and security and improperly engaged in the assessment of examination papers for a specific female student, thereby disadvantageous to other students.
Following media reports, two complaints were filed at the Agassaim police station. The FIR was registered based on the GU's formal complaint, charging Naik under Sections 336(3) (forgery), 329(4) (trespassing), 331(3) (housebreaking) and 318(4) (cheating) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
