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The Real story behind the VTU M1 paper leak:
On a tip-off, an official was deputed by the VTU to check the suspect exam centre. It was found that the suspect exam center had a computer that had been completely configured to convert a typical encrypted emails of question papers sent by the VTU which the VTU considered to be foolproof technology, a system that has no loopholes . A staffer’s phone at the exam centre showed around 10 missed calls and a tell-tale SMS which was related to the question papers. Close to 60,000 of the first-year engineering students found their preparations go in for a toss when it was officially announced that the M1 (mathematics 1) question paper for the first years had leaked on Tuesday,which brought up frustrations among the students.
Initially, the VTU vice-chancellor thought that the question paper could have leaked at either Davanagere or Tumkur, and inspection teams were rushed to these spots on Wednesday to find out the actual tale. But in an ironic turn of events, the source of the leak turned out to be an exam centre that is near Yelahanka in Bangalore city, where one would have thought stricter security measures were in place.
Last year, when there were several leaks of II PU exam papers, many blamed the PU Board’s practice of sending hard copies to exam centres for the scam. In fact, VTU had then claimed that its new practice of emailing soft copies of question papers to exam centres would rule out any such malpractice and would remove every loophole in the exissting system. However, the scamsters have proved smarter than the VTU officials, as the leak of the maths question paper indicates the drawback of such a fullproof technology..
According to sources, while the VTU inspection teams were in Davanagere and Tumkur, they got a tip-off that the question paper had leaked from Bangalore. Immediately, an official from a nearby college was asked to visit the suspect exam centre i.e., City Engineering college. He reached the college at around 1.30 pm i.e., 30 minutes before the exam was scheduled, which in-turn was the time when VTU uploads question papers to the respective servers and sends them to its exam centres. He found a staffer at the centre handling a computer system and acting in a strange way. When the latter was questioned about what he was actually trying to do, he said he was “merely doing work which was his daily routine”. As he was being questioned, he kept getting calls on his mobile which he avoided answering. His phone was seized and it was found that he had received missed calls from the same number approximately ten times. Just then, a message popped up on the phone from the same number, reading: “Are you done with sending the stuff”, said a source monitoring the development.
Even the configuration of the computer system in the exam centre was suspicious. It is supposed to be connected to two printers for faster prints, but was in addition connected to a fax machine and had a Windows Xp's document writer that can easily convert encrypted messages into PDFs within few minutes. Officials suspect the PDFs of the question paper were mailed to the scamsters who forwarded them to students for an undisclosed amount.
On confirmation of the leak, the inspection team camping in Tumkur too reached the city exam centre for further investigation. According to sources, VTU officials say they have cracked the m1 question paper leak. VTU vice-chancellor H Maheshappa said they have substantial leads and will discuss the issue at an enquiry committee meeting on Friday to discuss about the issue further.
A senior VTU academician said, “It’s a good example of the loopholes that exist even in the so-called foolproof technology adopted by VTU". The varsity should ensure that such leakages do not recur and must be reolved. M1 was an important exam to all the 1st year's, as it is a common paper for all the first year students. Due to the ineptitude of a few, thousands of students will now have to rewrite the exam, which is quite frustrating, given the fact that this has happened for the first time, indicating a major loophole in the system”
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