Bhubaneswar, Jan. 9: Authorities of Biju Patnaik University of Technology (BPUT) today cancelled a paper of BTech, fifth semester examination, following an online question paper leak last night. They have also filed an FIR at Airfield police station here.

The question paper of the controlling engineering system of electronics and telecommunication’s scheduled for Wednesday, was leaked on the Internet through online sharing. Around 5,000 students were supposed to appear for the examination.

“We received the information around 12.30am. The leaked question paper was tallied with the original one and was found to be the same,” said B.L. Agarwal, registrar, BPUT. He said the concerned authorities immediately notified the cancellation of exams on the university website.

The university has now constituted a committee to investigate into the incident. “Looking at the gravity of the matter, we have also decided to hand it over to the CBI for a probe,” said the senior official.

The authorities have also asked principals of all the colleges to return the question papers in whatever condition they were to track the source of leakage.

“So far, no college has communicated about anything amiss. At this stage, though it will be difficult to trace the leakage, we’ll get a clear picture once the sealed packets reach us. The report from the enquiry committee is also awaited,” said Agarwal.

According to rules, question papers are dispatched to colleges under sealed conditions on the evening before and can be opened 15 minutes before the exams. The papers are supposed to be kept under high security.

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

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

Odisha Private Engineering College Association has criticised the security lapse and called for a crime branch inquiry into the matter.

Last March, question papers of seven subjects in the matriculation exam had been stolen from a school in Puri district, forcing authorities to re-schedule the exam.