Another paper leak! Uttarakhand university's BTech paper leaked on WhatsApp, two exams cancelled, prof arrested

An assistant professor at a college affiliated with Veer Madho Singh Bhandari Uttarakhand Technical University has been arrested after questions from a BTech examination paper he set were found circulating on WhatsApp, matching the final exam paper by 90% to 95%, according to university officials. The university cancelled two examinations and the college terminated the professor's service before he was taken into custody on Thursday.

How the leak was discovered

The controversy began earlier this month when university officials received an anonymous email alleging that the third-year elective paper, Machine Learning for Internet of Things, had been compromised. A preliminary investigation confirmed the suspicion.

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The Superintendent of Police for Dehradun City, Pramod Kumar, stated that two committees were formed to investigate claims of question paper leaks prior to examinations. The investigation revealed that the accused, Assistant Professor Ashish Kumar, allegedly shared questions similar to those on the exams before they were administered, in order to give an unfair advantage. A case has been filed based on a complaint from the university, and legal action is being pursued.

As a precaution, the university also cancelled the second-year Electromagnetic Field Theory examination, which had been set by the same professor, even though no direct evidence of a leak was found for that paper. An official circular issued after the vice-chancellor's approval stated that the cancellations were ordered to protect the "credibility, purity and student interest" of the examination system.

The cancellations affect 355 second-year students and 22 third-year students. Re-examinations for both subjects are scheduled for the third week of August 2026.

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Arrest and investigation

Based on the university's complaint, a case was registered at Premnagar police station under BNS sections 316, 318(4), and 61(2). Gupta, who had been associated with the university for nearly a decade, was arrested. Police said an investigation is underway regarding equipment recovered from the accused and that evidence is being gathered concerning other individuals who may have been involved.

Campus protests and political pressure

The incident triggered protests on campus, with members of the National Students' Union of India and other youth groups submitting a memorandum to the administration. NSUI leader Siddharth Agarwal criticised the state government, alleging widespread negligence in the higher education department and demanding the resignation of the state higher education minister.

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Ganesh Godiyal, the president of the Uttarakhand Congress, also condemned the state government over the incident, blaming state Education Minister Dhan Singh Rawat and calling for the creation of a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to look into it.

A state with a pattern

The latest incident fits a troubling pattern for Uttarakhand. The state's first major examination controversies surfaced in 2017-18, followed by leaks in 2021 involving patwari and lekhpal exams. The UKSSSC graduate-level leak in 2022 triggered widespread outrage across the state, and similar leaks in 2025 led to another round of major agitations.