Gurugram: In Haryana’s Sonipat, at around 10 am Monday, the BA Final Year Hindi exam was underway at C.R.A College, affiliated with Maharshi Dayanand University. By 10.30 am, however, the question paper had been leaked and reached Shri Ji Photostat, a shop-cum-Atal Seva Kendra near the college, where it was quickly solved using AI tools. Ready-to-use cheating slips were then created, photocopied, and sold to students. The operation continued until about 1.30 pm.
Word of such operations often spreads during exams, with answer slips left in college washrooms for students—who know they’re being helped—to collect during permitted breaks. Peons and other staffers frequently act as conduits.
According to the police, the leak was facilitated by a fourth-grade college employee, identified as Sudhir.
The incident highlights a growing nexus between technological innovation and academic dishonesty, with AI emerging as the latest weapon in the age-old battle over exam cheating.
The leak, undetected by university authorities and police for hours, has sparked outrage among students and raised serious questions about the security of Haryana’s examination system.
Speaking to ThePrint on condition of anonymity, a police source said that a young operator at the photocopy shop used a computer and AI tools to generate answers to the leaked questions. Assistant Commissioner of Police (City), Sonipat, Rahul Dev said to ThePrint that the police were alerted to the leak at 1.05 pm through social media and other sources.
“By the time we received the information, the exam was over. We raided Shri Ji Photostat and arrested five individuals, including the shop owner, Akash, and Sudhir, the college peon who leaked the paper,” said ACP Dev.
The police recovered copies of the leaked Hindi paper along with other incriminating materials from the scene. When asked about the use of AI to solve the paper, ACP Dev said, “We will take the accused into custody to uncover the full extent of the operation, including the role of AI technology.”
An FIR has been registered under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, including Section 316 (4) (criminal breach of trust by clerk or servant) and 223 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) as well as provisions of the Haryana Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2021, at City Police Station in Sonipat.
Speaking to ThePrint, Prof Gulshan Lal Taneja, Controller of Examinations at MDU, Rohtak, confirmed that the matter has come to the notice of the university authorities.
“Taking swift action, Vice-Chancellor Rajbir Singh has constituted a three-member committee headed by the Dean of Academic Affairs, A.S. Maan. The committee will visit Sonipat tomorrow (Tuesday) and submit a report to the VC the same evening,” said Taneja.
The committee did visit the college Tuesday, however, the outcome is yet to be known. When contacted Wednesday by ThePrint, Dean Maan said he was not authorised to comment on it.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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