Kozhikode/Ernakulam: In a major development in the Kerala school exam question paper leak case, MS Solutions CEO Muhammad Shuhaib surrendered before the Kozhikode Crime Branch on Thursday. The investigation team stated that he would be taken for detailed interrogation.

Shuhaib, the first accused in the case, reached the Crime Branch office on Thursday afternoon after the Kerala High Court dismissed his anticipatory bail plea. Justice PV Kunhikrishnan issued an order in this regard, thereby cancelling the interim relief against Shuhaib’s arrest that had been granted on February 20.

In court, Shuhaib argued that he had only predicted probable questions based on previous question papers.

Addressing the media at the Crime Branch office, Shuhaib alleged a conspiracy to trap him in the case.

MS Solutions, a tuition centre based in Kozhikode's Koduvally, landed in trouble after uploading a prediction video for the Class 10 English and Class 11 Mathematics question papers for the half-yearly examination on its YouTube channel. Though Shuhaib dismissed the allegations, the Crime Branch, which launched an investigation in December, claims that MS Solutions was responsible for the leak. The Crime Branch registered a case against MS Solutions under seven charges, including fraud and breach of trust.

Amid the controversy, the YouTube channel announced the suspension of its operations, but it later uploaded a video leaking the Class 10 Chemistry question paper. KSU alleged that 32 out of 40 questions in the Chemistry exam were featured in a prediction video by MS Solutions.

On Wednesday, the Crime Branch took a peon from an unaided school into custody on charges of leaking the question papers to MS Solutions. Abdul Nassar, from Panangangara in Malappuram, was taken into custody for allegedly providing copies of the question papers to K Fahad, an English teacher at MS Solutions. Meanwhile, the education department has ordered a departmental inquiry into the question paper leak by a staff of the school.