Paper leak scam on since 2018, says varsity panel; files report
Sameer Singh
Tribune News Service
Bathinda, January 22
The paper leak scandal at Maharaja Ranjit Singh Punjab Technical University (MRSPTU) has taken a new turn. In its report, the university’s probe committee has confirmed that the illegal practice had been going on since 2018, when at least five papers were leaked.
Students Confirm Leaking Four More Papers
- Students who were caught copying question papers in a hostel room had confirmed leaking another four papers.
- During the raid, a professor along with other staff had recovered 15 phones from the students. The committee has handed over its report and the seized mobile phones to the police
As per the findings based on the information retrieved from the seized mobile phones, the subjects whose papers were leaked included Design of Steel Structures-1; Transportation Engineering, Geomatics Engineering and Environment Engineering. Apart from that, two students admitted that two papers of re-appear scheduled for December 10 and December 11 were also leaked.
The report states that Sunil Kumar, a kabaddi player and student of KCT College, Lehragaga, in Sangrur district, admitted that he had got two leaked question papers in this academic session and one in December 2018. Other students have also admitted that they had received question papers before the exam on different occasions.
Students were required to pay Rs 500 per question paper to get a soft copy on WhatsApp. It is learnt that a special WhatsApp group used to be created (with different name each time) in the morning on the day of the exam and students who made the payment were added to it. Even answers of few questions were also shared.
Sources said a student from 7th semester of mechanical engineering was also involved in the scandal that further raised suspicion that more papers might have been leaked. An assistant professor of KCT College, Lehragaga, has admitted that on January 8, he had clicked the picture of a question paper and sent it to a resident of Sangatpura village.
Aaswant Singh Dhaliwal, DSP, who is investigating the matter, has recorded statements of the university officials. The Vice-Chancellor has also formed an advisory committee that would give suggestions on how to prevent paper leaks in future.
The police have registered a case against assistant professor Karampal Puri of Mansa district and Manjit Singh of Sangatpura (Sangrur) under Sections 409 and 34 of the IPC.
When contacted, the DSP said, “We have seized the mobile phones used for paper leak and will send these for forensic analysis. We have visited the university campus and taken note of the modus operandi of the accused. We will get to the root of the matter. There are students who got only question papers, while others had received solutions as well. We are finding who all were sending these papers. We are studying the report submitted to us by the internal probe committee.”
Talking to The Tribune, Prof Mohan Paul Singh Ishar, Vice-Chancellor, MRSPTU, said, “The university committee will take necessary punitive action against the students involved. They have already been evicted from the hostels. All requisite measures would be put into place to prevent any such incident in future.”
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