An exam at an agriculture university in Chhattisgarh was cancelled, hours after it took place, on Thursday after a question paper surfaced on WhatsApp with almost 70% of its content matching the actual question paper – triggering allegations of paper leak.

As per an official of the university, around 500 students of B Sc Agriculture wrote the second-year second-semester entomology examination paper at Indira Gandhi Agricultural University, Raipur, earlier in the day.

University authorities said they have not been able to ascertain if there, indeed, was a leak and have submitted a complaint to the police to ascertain it.

The examination was held between 10 am and 1 pm in 34 colleges across Chhattisgarh.

Speaking to , the university’s registrar Dr Kapil Dev Deepak said, “Around 9.30 am, the paper is opened at the centers and at 10 am, the exam begins. The document that was circulated on WhatsApp was not the examination paper. Someone had created the document but nearly 70% of its content matched with the examination paper.”

After the allegations were made, a five-member committee of the university decided to cancel the examination. “We decided to cancel the examination in the evening and get it investigated by police to find out if the contents were internally leaked before the examination,” added Deepak.

The Registrar said the university is in the process of filing a complaint with the Telibandha Police Station.

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The matter came to light when National Students’ Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of the Opposition Congress, went to the university premises in the afternoon to stage a protest. The Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) also staged a protest and submitted a complaint to the university, seeking cancellation of the examination and a thorough probe.

Targeting the ruling party, Chhattisgarh Congress’s chief spokesperson Vandana Rajput said, “This is another paper leak under the BJP’s rule. If the Entomology question paper was leaked before the examination, it is not merely an examination-system failure but a direct injustice to thousands of hardworking students.”

She said, “The university must conduct an impartial, high-level probe to establish how the paper reached outside and take the strictest action against those responsible.”

In an official statement on Thursday evening, the Director of Instructions/Controller of Examinations said, “It is hereby informed to all the students of B Sc (Ag.) II Year, II Semester, 6th Dean, Academic Session 2025-26 that the examination of AENT 221 [Pest Management in crops and stored grains – I(Rabi Crops)], conducted on 20.08.2026, has been cancelled due to administrative reasons. The examination…will be rescheduled in the first week of September.”

Previous leaks

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Earlier this year, the Chhattisgarh Board of Secondary Education (CGBSE) cancelled the Class 12 Hindi exam which was held on March 14, after confirmed reports and an FIR regarding a WhatsApp-based paper leak.

Meanwhile, terming paper leak as a crime “more heinous than murder” due to which “whole society is adversely impacted”, the Chhattisgarh High Court, earlier this month, rejected the bail application of a retired IAS officer arrested last September by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for alleged corruption in the recruitment process of CGPSC State Civil Services Examination, 2021, in which his son, also an accused, got selected as deputy collector.