Kolkata, Feb 22 (PTI) The West Bengal Board of Secondary Education on Friday said it has barred a total of 20 candidates from writing papers for carrying mobile phones to exam halls in various districts in the class 10 examinations which concluded a day ago.

The Board has announced much before the exams began on February 10 that entering examination centres with mobile phones or any electronic communication devices is not allowed.

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“Altogether 20 candidates were banned from writing the papers in this year's Madhyamik (secondary) Examinations after mobiles were found in their possession before exams began at centres,” Board President Ramanuj Ganguly told PTI.

Those centres were located in districts such as South 24 Parganas, Uttar Dinajpur, Coochbehar, Alipurduar and Bankura.

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On the last day of the exam on Thursday, three such students were not allowed to write their papers, Ganguly said.

“Except for one or two key persons entrusted with running the exams at a centre, everyone else has to deposit their mobile phones or other electronic devices at the entrance of the venue. It was announced earlier that any student found hiding a phone will be disqualified,” he said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)