But the Pre-University department was quick to dismiss it as mere rumours.

Yet, several students who have laboured hard trying to secure good marks were dejected by the reports. Many of them turned up at the Deccan Herald office, while parents rang up reporters to inform that some students carried a hand-written ‘question paper’ with them before the examination commenced. These papers were reportedly shown as proof of the paper leakage.

Somnath was one of the dejected students, who had worked hard for the whole year only to discover that the leaked paper was being circulated. He claimed that the leaked paper tallied almost totally with the question paper distributed inside the exam hall.

His father, requesting anonymity, lamented: “My son was disheartened. If the average students score more marks than him through unfair and short-cut means, it will be depressing as well as injustice to him.”
Another student, Prajwal said, he had received a call from a friend at about 1.30 am on Wednesday about the questions in advance. Once inside the examination hall, he had found that over 45 per cent of the questions matched with the questions he had. The papers, he claimed, were being sold for Rs 25,000 in certain pockets of the city.

Besides the question paper leak complaint, many students had a grievance that the physics paper was as tough as the Chemistry examination held on Monday.

Rumours
The Pre-University department dubbed the question paper leak as a rumour spread by people with vested interests.

The department commissioner S G Hegde said: “As a commissioner I am personally ensuring a fool-proof examination. So far no paper has leaked. These rumours were spread by those who want to make money by selling a bunch of questions as question paper to the students,” said Hegde. He suspected the involvement of some tutors keen to continue their business in the rumours.

Hegde said there was a similar rumour in the city on Tuesday night about question papers being sold at a hotel at Sheshadripuram. A police team rushed there but nothing was found. Some PU students were standing near the hotel discussing about the exam but nothing objectionable was found on them.

He advised students to concentrate on exam preparation instead of roaming around in the city in search of ‘question papers’ as the Board was cautious to see that no question paper is leaked. He warned of police action against those spreading rumours about question paper leaks.

The Board has given phone numbers of the officials to inform them in case they know about paper leak. They are: L M Kanade, joint director (exam) - 9886779636; T S Tulasi Kumar, assistant director (exam)- 94496-46888; S Jambanna, personal secretary to commissioner - 99809-96631; Yallappa, personal assistant to commissioner - 23562033, 23561944; Board office numbers- 23361857, 23361858.