Over 12 lakh students aspiring to crack the All India Engineering Entrance Examination (AIEEE) across the country had to face harassment on Sunday as the CBSE postponed the test by over two hours after the question paper was leaked in Lucknow and reportedly sold for Rs six lakh there.

The examination commenced after a fresh set of question papers was distributed to students.

After getting a whiff of the leak, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) postponed the two exams which were scheduled to begin at 9:30 am and 2 pm on Sunday creating widespread confusion at centres across the country as students were not allowed to enter the examination halls without assigning any reason.
Students protest

There were reports of agitated students protesting at several centres. In Delhi, police intervened after students and parents entered into argument with exam organisers who did not allow them to enter the premises of the school where the entrance test was scheduled. The police had to be called in to control the crowd.

The exam for the first paper slated for 9:30 am began at noon and the second paper scheduled to start at 2 pm was conducted at 4 pm with new set of questions.

The AIEEE is held in two parts. While the first paper is for Bachelor of Engineering (B.E.) aspirants, the second paper is for students wanting to pursue Bachelor of Architecture (B.Arch). The CBSE chairman, Vineet Joshi, said that an inquiry would be conducted into the paper leak incident and the guilty would be brought to book.

“When we got to know (about the leak) in the morning, our aim was to do it without causing much inconvenience to most of the children... first was to ensure the exam happens as early as possible and that we have been able to do.”

There were many students who were appearing in Armed Forces Medical College (AFMC) test besides AIEEE on Sunday. The CBSE allowed them to appear in AFMC test and announced that it will conduct another AIEEE for them at the centres with same roll numbers on May 8.

About 12 lakh students across the country sat for the test at over 1,600 centres in more than 80 cities on Sunday.

Special Director General of Police Brij Lal said in Lucknow that a police informer claimed that the leaked AIEEE papers were available for Rs 6 lakh each. "Based on the information provided by the informer, the Special Task Force is looking for the accused," he told reporters.

The leaked paper was recovered in Lucknow, Brij Lal said.
The STF’s Senior Superintendent of Police Vijay Prakash said they received a copy of the question paper Saturday night.

"We faxed the paper to the CBSE chairman and it was confirmed this morning that the paper was the original one," he said.

This is for the first time that AIEEE was also held in the online format for students willing to appear in this mode, which was also postponed accordingly.

About one lakh candidates from 20 cities in India registered for the examination online.
The AIEEE is conducted to gain admissions into National Institutes of Technology and other engineering colleges in the country.