A 17-year-old boy who was returning home after taking the Madhyamik English examination died after he fell from a running train near Kankinara railway station in North 24-Parganas on Saturday afternoon.

Police and eyewitnesses said Rajkumar Shaw, a resident of 5-Railway Siding in Kankinara, suffered fatal injuries after his head hit an electric pole when he tried to lean out of the compartment to spit.

The boy was a student of Kankinara High School and had gone to Gurdah Rishi Aurobinda Vidyaniketan in Shyamnagar to take the examination.

The incident occurred about 1.25pm near the railway gate-29 when a Naihati-bound train in which Shaw was travelling was fast approaching the Kankinara station. After he fell off the train, local people took him to Bhatpara state general hospital. But since his condition was deteriorating and he was bleeding continuously from ear, Shaw was transferred to Jawaharlal Nehru Hospital & College of Medicine in Kalyani, where attending doctors declared him dead.

A large number of students, who came to know about the incident, rushed him to the Kalyani hospital and broke down.

Family members and classmates said Shaw, who had lost his father, a jute mill worker, a few years back, took a train to travel to and from the test centre in Shyamnagar though some social organisations had arranged free transport for the examinees because of the early commencement of the examination.

“Raj was very jovial and liked travelling together with friends. He was travelling today standing near the door when he tried to spit but his head hit the post and he fell from the train under its impact,” said one of his classmates.

Satyajit Sau, a Trinamul Congress leader who took tuitions for Shaw, told The Telegraph: “This year’s early commencement of the Madhyamik examination has inconvenienced students. So, I arranged transport to drop off many candidates at their respective examination venues. But unfortunately, Rajkumar did not avail of the service.”

According to the revised timing given by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Examination this year, Madhyamik exams begin at 9.45am, instead of the earlier 11.45am. This has created major problems for many candidates who are being required to undertake rail or bus journeys to reach their venue crossing a considerable distance.

“Most of the students are trying to reach the venue at least an hour before the scheduled time. So, reaching the venue early amid the foggy weather has become a tremendous problem,” said an in-charge of an examination venue, who refused to be identified.