Uttarakhand students protest paper leak

The week in Uttarakhand was dominated by student protests after the alleged leak of the UKSSSC graduate-level examination paper. On September 21, three pages of the paper surfaced on social media just half an hour after the exam began, triggering demonstrations led by the Uttarakhand Berozgar Sangh at Dehradun's Parade Ground before spreading across the hill state. Garhwal, Champawat, Pauri, Chamoli, Bageshwar and Pithoragarh became flashpoints as anger mounted. An initial probe by the state government pointed to a college professor and a CPWD junior engineer with his family as masterminds of the leak. Protesters are demanding cancellation of the exam and a fresh test. Their demands later widened to include the resignation of the UKSSSC chairman and a CBI investigation into the entire episode.

To calm the unrest, the Pushkar Singh Dhami government formed an SIT headed by a retired High Court judge, tasked with submitting a report within a month. Dhami has promised strict action against those responsible, but students continue to demand a CBI probe.