The university authorities pulled the plug on the exams, scheduled to be held in two shifts starting from 9:30am yesterday, when it was confirmed that the question papers being circulated were copies of those to be sat.

Students said the photocopied papers were being sold to applicants staying at all the 11 dormitories at between Tk 100 to Tk 10,000. Sales continued throughout the night and early hours of the morning until the test was postponed.

At an urgent meeting of the central admission committee a three-member probe body was set up to investigate the incident. The probe will be headed by Dean Prof Amin Mohammad Ali aided by Prof Shamsul Alam and Nayeem Sultan. The postponed admission test will be held on December 6 from 2:30pm to 6:00pm.

However even as the probe was being established, teachers and employees at the university were already being blamed for the incident.

Mohammad Ismail Hossain, chairman of the departmental admission committee, said: "I am disappointed as it is a dangerous incident. A syndicate of teachers and employees are involved in the incident, though I can not say who they are,"

The leak came to light when a journalist discovered the copies and informed the university administration.

To avoid any unexpected disturbance on campus, the leaked out question papers were distributed to Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal and Bangladesh Chhatra League activists from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology and Dhaka University who later sold the question hand to hand on the campus.

The question sellers in some cases returned the money taken from applicants after the admission test was postponed. However most applicants did not get their money back.

In the past allegations of cheating and irregularities have been strongly denied by the university. Earlier this week a hand written copy of the question paper of International Relations and Archaeology departments exams held on November 27 were also reportedly leaked out. The university authorities have yet to launch an investigation into the allegations.

Commenting on the leaking of the economics department question paper, pro-VC Prof Enamul Huq Khan said: "The incident is totally unexpected and an investigation will soon be conducted into the incident."