New Delhi:

The question paper for the UGC-NET exam that was held Tuesday was leaked 48 hours earlier and sold on the dark web and encrypted social media platforms for Rs 6 lakh, sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation told NDTV. The NET exam had been voided by the Education Ministry – already taking flak over the NEET-UG test – that cited input from a federal anti-cybercrime unit.

Sources said the source of the leak, however, is unclear at this time. The agency will work with the NTA or the National Testing Agency, which is the central body that conducts competitive exams.

The role of coaching centres – in which thousands of aspirants enrol, at great cost, in hope of cracking exams like NET, NEET, and the civil service entrance tests – in several states is also being investigated, sources said, explaining CBI officers could visit a few in person.

The CBI filed its first FIR, or first information report, in this case on Thursday, in which it accused as yet unidentified persons based on the ministry’s complaint. The ministry had said information indicates “prima facie that the integrity of the examination may have been compromised”.

On Thursday, hours after the UGC-NET was voided – sources said the authorities believed a large-scale corruption racket is behind the leaked papers. Given this concerns, sources said officials charged with the exam’s conduct, including those who set question papers, would be probed.

The officials likely to be investigated range from academics who set the papers and those who evaluate answers to officials who edited, or checked, the papers. Sources said two to three sets of each question paper had been prepared.

The role of officials who print each paper will be examined, as will that of those who take the printed documents to examination centres. The role of the latter will be scrutinised, as this person has access to all question papers.

After the exam was scrapped, students protested on university campuses across the country, claiming they had flagged paper leaks last week, days before the exam, but no action was taken.

Students at Lucknow University said at least one paper had been leaked and was available for just Rs 5,000. This, they said, had been circulated via WhatsApp and Telegram groups from June 16.

UGC-NET refers to the University Grants Commission’ National Eligibility Test – a qualifying exam for appointments to professorial posts in colleges and universities, as well as fellowships.

Over 11 lakh students had registered for the exam.

Lucknow:

Student protests have rocked university campuses across the country after the government scrapped the UGC-NET exam, which is held to fill Assistant Professor posts in universities and colleges and to determine eligibility for junior research fellowships.

The Education ministry said yesterday its June exam of the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test (UGC-NET) was scrapped after inputs that indicate that “the integrity of the examination may have been compromised”.

Students at Lucknow University, however, claimed that their Paper-1 was leaked and were being sold for Rs 5,000-Rs 10,000 through WhatsApp and Telegram groups since the evening of June 16. They said they even flagged the matter online, but the UGC took no action.

“Instead of cancelling the exam, they stood by their decision to go ahead with it. The result was that the exam had to be cancelled in the end,” said a student.

Over nine lakh candidates on Tuesday appeared for the UGC-NET exam in OMR (pen and paper) on Tuesday. But they were not provided a carbon copy with the OMR, the students claimed.

“If we had the carbon copy, we could have challenged the NTA,” they said.

The students also shared with NDTV the psychological pressure they face due to their age as their families wait for them to get employed.

“NET candidates are of the age where they are expected to start earning. At this level, when papers are cancelled or leaked, where will such aspirants go? We cannot even do jobs. We are allotted exam centres far away which makes it difficult to get public transportation. Where will we get money for cabs?” asked a student.

They said they had to brave the extreme summer heat to reach far-away exam centres at afternoon – the hottest time of the day – only to be informed a day later that their efforts were all in vain.

“We come and study at the university in this heat. We prepare for six months and then we are allotted exam centres 12-20 km away. We travel all the way in this heat, and after the exam, we get to know that it was leaked. I think the papers are leaked much ahead. It is like a movie, which is first made and released at a later date,” said another.

The National Testing Agency, which conducts the University Grants Commission-National Eligibility Test, is already embroiled in a controversy over irregularities in the NEET medical entrance exams.

The NEET row pertains to the allegations of a paper leak and grace marks awarded to over 1,500 aspirants. While the grace marks were later scrapped and the students were offered a re-test, paper leak was denied by the education minister. This morning, however, four men arrested in Bihar admitted their role in the paper leak case.