Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government has cancelled the first paper of the Provincial Civil Services (PSC) preliminary examinations after an exam paper was leaked. The question paper was being circulated on the WhatsApp messaging service, and the order cancelling the examination was issued after police verified that it was indeed the genuine question paper.
While the formal order cancelling the examination is yet to be delivered, it was confirmed by the state police chief.
"The paper was leaked at about 9:15 am on WhatsApp before start of the examination. It has matched with the original paper of PCS preliminary. We have informed the Chief Minister and Chief Secretary in this regard," Director General of Police (DGP) AK Jain said.
"We have deployed a number of teams to investigate and those behind this will be arrested soon. We have some leads at the moment," he added.
The question paper was reportedly being sold for Rs. 5 lakh for a copy. A Special Task Force is investigating into who is behind the leak.
The Public Service Commission, based in Allahabad, conducting the state wide examination, initially argued with the media over the reported leak but refrained from commenting on either the leak or the cancellation of the examination.
The news of the leak angered the students who demanded a re-examination. Abhishek Srivastava, a student at the Allahabad centre said, "Both papers held today should be cancelled. How do we know both were not leaked?" Another student said the leak was a serious matter as the PCS is a prestigious examination.
The exam is conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Provincial Civil Services for entry into the state government's civil services. It was being held at over 20 districts in 917 centres and is taken by over four lakh aspirants.