JEE Main 2021 questions go viral during exam in Bihar

PATNA: Several screenshots of questions purportedly from the Joint Engineering Examination (JEE) Mains paper on Thursday went viral on social media platforms a few minutes after the test began.

Candidates who appeared in the exam said the questions were like the ones leaked on Thursday. Ratnesh Singh, who appeared at a centre in Patliputra, said, “I have matched all questions, and they were similar to the ones asked during the online exam.”

Mohammed Arif, another candidate, said students are not allowed to take any electronic devices, including mobile phones, to the exam centres. “It looks like a photo of the questions on the desktop was clicked during the exam,” he said.

The second round of JEE Mains began on March 16 and concluded on Thursday. Around 60,000 students appeared for the second round across the state in six cities, including 22 centres in Patna. The engineering entrance examination is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA).

Vineet Joshi, director-general of NTA, told this newspaper that it will not benefit anyone if a candidate shared the pictures of questions during the exam. “However, if the allegations are true, we will take action against such mischievous candidates. The person will be booked for using unfair means and we will also ensure that the candidate is debarred from taking the JEE exam in future,” Joshi said.

According to students and a few coaching centres, the screenshots were circulated on WhatsApp around 9.34 am while the entrance test was conducted from 9 am to 12 noon on Thursday.

An official of a coaching centre at Boring road said he got the screenshots on his WhatsApp and when he verified with students, it appeared like the ones asked in the exam. “As per the NTA instruction, students are not supposed to take mobile phones inside the exam hall. If such an incident took place then action should be taken,” the official said.