Two more caught with mobiles; total exam cancellations rise to 51

Kolkata: Two candidates were caught with mobile phones during the Life Science paper on Wednesday, taking the total number of such cases across the seven main written papers of the Madhyamik examination to 51.

One case was reported from Hooghly and the other from East Burdwan. The entire examination of all 51 candidates has been cancelled this year. Wednesday’s test was the last of the seven main written papers. The examination will conclude on February 12 after the optional elective subjects, with results due within 90 days.

West Bengal Board of Secondary Education president Ramanuj Ganguly said many candidates were bringing phones, believing they could find answers during the examination. In some cases, he said, parents appeared to be aware. “From the messages on seized phones, it appears that family members knew the candidates had taken phones to the centres,” he said, adding that at least five such cases had been noticed.

He said there was no evidence this year of questions being leaked or answers being sent to candidates. Each seized phone was checked for messages, gallery content, and applications, but no organised cheating network had been detected. Two candidates were also reported for tearing question papers and answer scripts on Wednesday.

In another incident in Burdwan town, a candidate was found carrying a cap gun in his bag at Udaypalli Siksha Niketan High School. The object was seized by police, and the examination continued without disruption.

The number of mobile phone cases this year has exceeded the figures of the past two years. There were 18 such cases in 2025 and 36 in 2024.

Ganguly also said the board had not received any official report of an error in the trigonometry question in the mathematics paper. He described it as a “trick question” meant to differentiate top performers, adding that candidates were expected to show the steps to disprove the proposition.