Weeks after 1,678 errors were found in Odisha’s newly introduced school textbooks, prompting the suspension of senior education officials, the state government on Saturday ordered a Crime Branch probe into the entire textbook preparation and publication process, with the chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi directing the State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) director to lodge a first information report (FIR) to determine criminal liability. The scale of the errors triggered widespread criticism from teachers, parents, educationists and opposition parties (File Photo) The decision to hand the case over to the Crime Branch followed Majhi’s remarks that a “conspiracy” could be behind the factual inaccuracies, conceptual mistakes, typographical and grammatical errors. Last month a high-level committee headed by the development commissioner DK Singh submitted its probe report on the inaccuracies. Following this, the government suspended former SCERT director Manoj Padhi and three assistant directors while initiating disciplinary proceedings against six other assistant directors for alleged lapses. The scale of the errors triggered widespread criticism from teachers, parents, educationists and opposition parties. Class V literature …