The question papers of the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE)-2011 were found being sold in Kanpur district of Uttar Pradesh on Saturday night,which led to rescheduling of the test across the country by a few hours on Sunday amid confusion and chaos with many centres slated to hold it on May 8 now. The CBSE was informed of the paper leak by the Special Task Force (STF) of Lucknow in the morning. We received information by phone about the leak by the STF of Lucknow at about 7.30 am. It took us time to cross-check. We matched the two papers the real one and the leaked one and then decided to delay the examination, CBSE chairperson Vineet Joshi told The Indian Express. The first exam slated for 9.30 am began at noon and the second paper to start at 2 pm was conducted at 4 pm. AIEEE is held in two parts. While the first paper is for Bachelor of Engineering (BE) aspirants,the second paper is for students wanting to pursue Bachelor of Architecture (BArch). The STF had got the question paper from a decoy on Saturday. Despite many attempts,the STF could not contact the CBSE officials at night. They faxed a copy of the leaked question paper to the CBSEs regional office in Patna in the morning. After the leak was confirmed,Assistant Secretary of CBSE,Allahabad,Karun Singh Saini approached the Hazratganj police station in Lucknow for lodging an FIR. A complaint has been received and an FIR is being lodged, said K N Mishra,SHO,Hazaratganj. Special Director General of Police Brij Lal said,We were told that the (leaked) question paper was being sold for Rs 6 lakh. So far we have got information that culprits belong to Kanpur in UP and Bihar. Raids are being conducted to arrest the culprits. We are also quizzing the accused arrested in the paper leak cases in the past, said an STF official. In 2003,too,an AIEEE question paper was leaked. However,the students appearing for the examination more than 12 lakh candidates were to take AIEEE at 1,680 centres across the country were left high and dry. My daughter had to appear in exam at Army Public School in Cantonment. The exam started on scheduled time. But after half-an-hour,the authorities said the examination had been postponed because of paper leak and would take place on May 8, said Y K Singh,a UP government employee. Aakash Verma,who had come from Bihar to take the test in Delhi,said,This is harassment. They should have informed us earlier. Now we are stranded. For some,there was more confusion. There was no communication from anybody. We were waiting inside the examination centre till 10 in the morning and we had no question papers, said Sangita Mishra,a candidate whose centre was at the Air Force Golden Jubilee School at Subrato Park in Delhi. I reached my centre before 9 am. It was much later that we were told that the paper has been leaked and will now take place at 12 noon,instead. She added that because the entrance examination for the Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) was also to be held at the same centre,our exam (AIEEE) was cancelled and will now be held on May 8. The AFMC entrance examination was also scheduled for Sunday at about 2.30 pm. At such centres where both AIEEE and AFMC exam were to be held,AIEEE will be conduced now on May 8. Pitam Singh,Director Spl Exams,CBSE,issued a statement later saying,Students who are appearing for AFMC examination and also appearing for AIEEE can appear for AFMC as per schedule. For such students,the CBSE will conduct another examination on May 8 at 9.30 am at the same centre with the same roll number. However,many students complained the new date for AIEEE was also clashing with other entrance examinations. The CBSE later launched an AIEEE helpline which kept ringing throughout the day.
