Bhubaneswar, Jan. 17: Authorities of the Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) have served show cause notices to five colleges that have failed to return the sealed boxes of question paper of the fifth semester’s control system engineering examination.

The exam was cancelled on January 9 as the papers were leaked. “January 13 was the deadline to return the sealed boxes. We had issued a reminder to colleges that had not returned the packets following which we received a few more. However, five colleges are yet to return the packets. We have issued them a show cause notice in this regard,” said S.P. Mohanty, exam director, BPUT, adding that the police was conducting its own investigation.

The authorities have filed an FIR at the Airfield police station. Following the leak, the question papers were sent through Internet sharing.

Around 5,000 students were supposed to appear for the exams. The authorities had asked principals of all the colleges to return the question papers in a sealed condition.

According to the rule, question papers are dispatched to colleges in a sealed box the evening before the exams and can be opened only 15 minutes before the exams. These papers are supposed to be kept under high security. “Once all the packets reach, we would get some leads in the matter,” he said.

“Looking at the gravity of the matter, we have also decided to hand it over to the CBI for a probe,” said BPUT registrar B.L. Agarwal.

“Penal action will be taken against those found guilty — both students and the institute,” said Agarwal.

The officials said that examination for the subject would be conducted at a later date for which notification will be issued.