BPSC exam cancelled after question paper leaks on social media

Patna: The Bihar Public Services Commission on Sunday cancelled the examination for Civil Services (preliminary) held earlier in the day, hours after allegations of question paper “leak” led to a massive outcry. Screenshots of a set of question papers had gone viral on social media minutes before the exams commenced at noon.

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“The exams have been cancelled. Other announcements will be made in due course,” BPSC Examination Controller Amarendra Kumar told PTI over phone.

BPSC Secretary Jiut Singh said a three-member committee has also been set up to inquire into the whole matter and asked to submit a report in three days.

“We received complaints of leak at the time of commencement of exams. We compared the screenshots with the question papers and those tallied with set C. The screenshots reportedly went viral nearly six minutes before the exams began. These allegations will be looked into by the inquiry committee,” Singh told reporters.

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In Ara, the Bhojpur district headquarters, candidates at Veer Kunwar Singh College, one of the examination centres, came out with a startling allegation. The young men and women created a ruckus, alleging that some of the candidates were segregated and allowed to solve their papers inside a separate room, and also permitted to take mobile phones there. Bhojpur District Magistrate Raushan Kushwaha reached the spot and pacified the protesting candidates.

“The boys and the girls have been asked to give their complaint in writing. We will submit these to the BPSC which alone can take any action. The local administration can only ensure that exams are conducted on the assigned day without any hindrance,” he said.

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Meanwhile, more than five lakh candidates who appeared for the tests at over 1,000 centres across the state, reacted with dismay. “It is demoralising, to say the least. The exams were to be held in December but were deferred because of panchayat elections. Now, there is going to be further delay,” one of them said.

Rahman Khan, who runs a coaching centre in Patna for aspirants from underprivileged backgrounds, alleged that an examination mafia is at work and it needs to be busted if the BPSC were not to lose all its credibility.