West Bengal Education Minister Partha Chatterjee on Thursday said strict punishment will be meted out to candidates caught with mobile phones inside examination halls during the ongoing Class 10 board examinations.
Addressing the media in the evening, Chatterjee said mobile phones were seized from some examinees on the first two days of the Madhyamik examination, which commenced on Tuesday.
On Wednesday, a student appearing for the state board examination in Baidyanathpur High School in Malda was held for allegedly making a TikTok video of the English question paper and sharing it on social media.
Similarly, purported images of the Bengali question paper started making rounds on the app soon after the first language examination of the Class 10 state board begun on Tuesday.
Taking strong exception to the incidents, the WBBSE issued a notification on Wednesday, saying that if any candidate is found with electronic gadgets inside the examination hall, he will not be allowed to appear for the remaining exams.
"Strictest punishment will be awarded under the existing rules and from now on, whoever is caught flouting these, will be tried as per cybercrime laws," the minister said.
The minister said it has been noticed that some people were trying to create confusion over question papers through social media posts. "It is a conspiracy and a deliberate attempt to create confusion," he added.