Cuttack, May 20: Police of Lalbag Police Station have arrested another middleman in connection with the Odisha High Court ASO examination question paper leak and model answer sale case. The accused, identified as Satyabrata Mohanty of Satyabhamapur near Uttara under Dhauli Police Station limits, allegedly acted as a link between aspirants and the masterminds of the racket.

According to police, Satyabrata used to visit different coaching centres to contact aspirants and target financially well-off candidates. He allegedly struck deals worth around Rs 20 lakh per candidate for providing leaked question papers and model answers. Investigators said he arranged meetings between nearly 12 to 14 aspirants and the masterminds before the model answers were shared.

The written examination for High Court ASO-2024 recruitment, held in July 2025, was later cancelled following allegations of question paper and model answer leaks. A case was subsequently registered at Lalbag police station.

During the investigation, police found the involvement of Silicon Tech Private Limited, owned by Suresh Chandra Nayak, which was responsible for preparing the question papers, and Panchsoft Private Limited, headed by Shankar Prusti, which handled the model answers. Both Suresh Nayak and Shankar Prusti are already in jail after being arrested earlier by the Crime Branch in connection with the SI examination scam.

Police are now probing whether any coaching centre owners were also linked to the racket. Earlier, another accused from Koraput, Sapan Kupar Panda, was arrested for allegedly collecting money from aspirants in a similar manner. Sources said police are searching for more middlemen involved in the case.

Notably, Lalbag police had arrested six persons in connection with the case on January 31.