Overview
- The CID‑Crime Branch registered Case No. 08/2026 after SCERT director Madhusmita Sahoo filed an FIR, and the complaint names offences under Sections 316(5), 201, 3(5) and 61(2) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.
- Multiple CID‑CB teams led operationally by DSP Narendra Kumar Behera have been formed to probe every stage of the textbooks’ life cycle, from content selection and approval to printing, publication and distribution.
- A state inquiry led by Development Commissioner D K Singh found widespread errors and prompted the government to suspend four senior officers, including the former SCERT director and three assistant directors, and to start disciplinary proceedings against six others.
- The chief minister has publicly suggested the mistakes could reflect a plot to defame the government and ordered the criminal probe, while the opposition BJD has demanded the officials responsible be named.
- The case threatens both criminal penalties and changes to Odisha’s textbook approval system because the errors affect students in Classes 1–8 and have highlighted gaps in SCERT’s content vetting that could delay corrected books and alter how materials are reviewed.