# Pune astrophysics staffer booked for leaking exam paper

2026-11-09T23:26:10+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk

Corroboration: 3 independent outlets (4 source reports)

A staffer at Pune's National Centre for Radio Astrophysics (NCRA) has been booked under the Official Secrets Act for allegedly leaking the question paper of a Work Assistant recruitment exam held on 24 May 2025. Vivek Baban Hadawale, a resident of NCRA Colony, was booked on the complaint of Vaibhav Pandurang Sherkar, a vigilance officer with the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR), the police said on 9 November. The leak came to light nearly a year after the exam. TIFR's vigilance department received a tip-off in June 2026, and Sherkar met an informer on 31 July 2026 who said he had received the paper via WhatsApp from Hadawale's mobile phone a day before the exam. The vigilance department found the paper matched the original. An FIR was registered at Chaturshringi police station on 25 October under section 5 of the Official Secrets Act and sections 316(2) and 316(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita. Police said Hadawale is yet to be traced and the investigation is underway.

## Indian Opinion Analysis

The Indian Express led with the year-long gap between the exam and the leak coming to light, framing the story around the delay and the accused's forced leave, while PTI's copy, carried by Rediff and ThePrint, stuck to the FIR details in a straight news bulletin. The Express adds the investigative colour that recruitment was completed before the leak was confirmed, the wire reports omit that. Both accounts agree on the core facts, but the Express alone raises the question of motive. The balanced reading is that this is a procedural criminal case, with the only real divergence the emphasis the Express places on the timing and the arrest warrant issued on 25 October.

## Coverage

Coverage: 2 sources, 2 neutral
- indianexpress.com (neutral report) <https://indianexpress.com/article/cities/pune/ncra-question-paper-leak-surfaces-year-and-half-later-10956692/>
  Leads with the delay and adds extra detail on investigation
- PTI <https://www.rediff.com/news/report/ncra-staffer-booked-under-official-secrets-act-for-exam-leak/20261109.htm>
- rediff.com <https://www.rediff.com/news/report/ncra-staffer-booked-under-official-secrets-act-for-exam-leak/20261109.htm>
  Straight PTI report with key points and detailed FIR facts
- theprint.in <https://theprint.in/india/national-centre-for-radio-astrophysics-staffer-booked-under-osa-for-exam-paper-leak/3094597/>
  Identical PTI wire copy, no added reporting

This brief was synthesised by AI from the 2 sources linked above, so one read covers every framing they carry.

Tags: NCRA, Official Secrets Act, Pune, TIFR
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How this brief was made: an AI model read the reports linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. Stance labels are editorial classifications of how each outlet framed this story, assigned by the same model, not ratings of the outlets. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/