Bhubaneswar: Utkal University on Friday ordered a probe, to be supervised by the vice-chancellor (VC), into the alleged leak of a Plus III second-semester question paper, reportedly circulated on a messaging platform before the examination started at 10 am on Thursday. The university has also filed an FIR at Saheed Nagar police station. Meanwhile, vice-chancellor Chandi Prasad Nanda held a meeting on Friday to decide the next course of action.The university’s controller of examinations, Hrushikesh Nayak, said they received information from unverified sources that Thursday’s question paper had been leaked. “The university authorities will probe the matter. We will file a complaint with the cyber police station as well in this regard,” he said, adding action would be taken after the investigation. “So far, we have not received any information about the leak from our affiliated colleges. We came to know about the alleged paper leak from outside sources. If the allegation is confirmed, a re-examination will be conducted for the leaked paper,” he said.The university has more than 300 affiliated degree colleges, to which it sends question papers. Nayak said the question papers are sent to the respective colleges before the examination starts. “The sealed question papers are opened at 9.30 am on the day of the examination, 30 minutes before it begins, in the presence of college staff. We will be able to share more details after identifying the source of the leak,” he said.Though the university has not disclosed the subject of the allegedly leaked question paper, sources said it was a commerce paper. The Plus III semester examinations in undergraduate colleges under Utkal University began on Sept 12 and will continue till Sept 24.Students, meanwhile, are concerned about the alleged question paper leak. “If such an incident has happened, the possibility of a re-examination will cause anxiety among us. The university should have been more cautious. Those involved in the incident should be taken to task,” said a student, who appeared for the examination, on Thursday.
