An assistant professor affiliated with Veer Madho Singh Bhandari Uttarakhand Technical University has been arrested following the discovery that a BTech examination paper he created was circulating on WhatsApp. University officials confirmed the leaked questions matched the final exam paper by 90% to 95%, prompting immediate action.
Investigation Leads to Arrest and Cancellations
The controversy began earlier this month when the university received an anonymous email alleging a compromise of the third-year elective paper, "Machine Learning for Internet of Things." A preliminary investigation quickly validated these suspicions.
Dehradun City Superintendent of Police, Pramod Kumar, confirmed that two committees were established to investigate the paper leak claims. The investigation identified Assistant Professor Ashish Kumar as the accused, who allegedly shared exam questions to provide an unfair advantage to students before the examinations were administered.
In response, the university cancelled two examinations: the "Machine Learning for Internet of Things" for 22 third-year students, and the second-year "Electromagnetic Field Theory" paper affecting 355 students. The latter was also set by Professor Kumar, and while no direct leak evidence was found for it, the cancellation was a precautionary measure to protect the "credibility, purity and student interest" of the examination system. Re-examinations for both subjects are slated for the third week of August 2026.
Police Action and Broader Implications
Following a complaint from the university, a case was registered at Premnagar police station under BNS sections 316, 318(4), and 61(2). Professor Kumar, who had been associated with the university for nearly a decade, was arrested. Police stated that an investigation is ongoing, focusing on recovered equipment and identifying any other individuals potentially involved in the scheme.
The incident has sparked campus protests, with the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) and other youth organizations submitting memorandums to the administration. NSUI leader Siddharth Agarwal criticized the state government for alleged negligence in the higher education department, demanding the resignation of the state higher education minister. Uttarakhand Congress president Ganesh Godiyal also condemned the incident, calling for a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe the matter.
This latest Uttarakhand paper leak fits into a concerning pattern for the state, which has faced similar examination controversies dating back to 2017-18, including leaks in 2021 (patwari and lekhpal exams), 2022 (UKSSSC graduate-level), and 2025.