A group of students appearing in the higher secondary exam in Malda allegedly assaulted the headmaster and vandalised the school’s furniture on Thursday when invigilators tried to stop them from cheating during the exam.

Police had to rush to the spot to bring the situation under control. The headmaster, who sustained injuries, filed a police complaint against a number of students.

Sources said that students of Bangitola High School in Kaliachak-II block, were sitting for the exams from Rathbari High School of the same block. On Thursday, as the English (second language) exam started, teachers working as invigilators at the school found chits on a section of examinees.

Samannoy Sarkar, the headmaster of Rathbari High School, who was going around the institution to monitor the exam, said he entered a classroom on the first floor of the building almost one-and-ahalf hours after the start of the exam.

“Students of Bangitola High School were in the class, writing their papers. Most of them had chits. I said whoever had chits should hand them over those to me. As I snatched some chits from one of them, a boy got up and said he would not sit for the exam. I said he couldn’t leave before the stipulated time,” said the headmaster, adding that this angered the boys.

“Suddenly they started raining fisticuffs on me. They hit my head. I ended up with bleeding lips. It was beyond my imagination that students can attack me,” he added.

As the news spread, some other students allegedly ransacked the furniture and tried to get out of the school campus, prompting teachers to prevent them. This reportedly triggered some more students to attack the teachers.

Some guardians who were standing outside the building got agitated and tried to enter the school.

Police were informed and soon a team from Mothabari police station rushed to the spot.

They had to chase guardians with batons to disperse them.

Sarkar later filed a complaint with the police, naming six students who had attacked him.

Mohammad Farooque Hossain, secretary of the examination centre, said that the students wanted to use chits openly to write their exam papers.

“On a number of occasions earlier, such incidents have happened during examinations. This is why a section of teachers do not raise their voice even if they find a student resorting to unscrupulous means during exams. We have sought the administration’s intervention to prevent such incidents in the future,” he said.

The incident led to a loss of face for teachers of Bangitola High School, whose students allegedly were using chits and later turned violent when confronted at the exam centre.

Saumitra Sengupta, the teacher-in-charge of the school, condemned the attack.

“On Friday, we will send two teachers to the exam centre,” he said.

R.S. Virdi, the block development officer, also said that additional security would be deployed in the Rathbari High School from Friday.

“We will not tolerate any highhandedness by the HSexaminees. Anybody who is found violating the rules will have to face legal consequences,” he said.