‘70% match with actual question paper’: In Chhattisgarh, university exam cancelled over ‘leak’

An exam at the Indira Gandhi Agricultural University in Chhattisgarh was abruptly cancelled after a leaked question paper with near-70% identical content surfaced on WhatsApp, sparking allegations of a paper leak. The cancelled examination was for B Sc Agriculture students who were set to take the second-year second-semester entomology exam at the university's Raipur campus.

Around 500 students from 34 colleges across Chhattisgarh were scheduled to write the exam between 10 am and 1 pm on Thursday. The university's registrar, Dr Kapil Dev Deepak, confirmed that the leaked document did not match the actual examination paper verbatim, but had a near-70% match with its content. The university authorities launched a five-member committee to investigate the matter and have also filed a complaint with the police.

The incident prompted protests from student wings NSUI and ABVP, who sought cancellation of the examination and a thorough probe. Chhattisgarh Congress spokesperson Vandana Rajput termed the leak as a direct injustice to thousands of hardworking students and demanded an impartial, high-level probe to determine how the paper was leaked.