Bhubaneswar, July 14: The Crime Branch of Odisha Police on Tuesday arrested former State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) Director Manoj Padhi in connection with the irregularities in preparation, approval and publication of school textbooks for classes I to VIII in the State.

Padhi is currently serving as the Special Secretary in the School and Mass Education Department.

The action follows after the agency formally initiated a probe by registering a case under sections 316(5), 201, 3(5), and 61(2) of BNS basing on the complaint filed by SCERT Director Madhusmita Sahu.

Earlier on July 11, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi ordered a Crime Branch Probe into textbook errors and directed SCERT Director Sahu to lodge a formal FIR with the Crime Branch.

Last month, the State Government formed a three-member committee headed by Development Commissioner DK Singh after a staggering 1,678 factual, typographical and printing errors were detected in school textbooks across subjects. Among the grave mistakes, a photograph of the Karnataka Assembly was featured as that of the Odisha Legislative Assembly while Odisha’s Niyamgiri Hills were shown as being in Jharkhand and Ganjam district was referred to as Brahmapur district.

Based on the committee’s findings, the Government had suspended then SCERT Director Manoj Padhi along with three Assistant Directors - Pralipta Mishra, Dilip Kumar Sahu and Bharati Tudu. In addition, the Government initiated department disciplinary proceedings against six other Assistant Directors for their alleged role in the lapses.