BCom examinees caught with mobiles threaten profs

Kolkata: A group of Prafulla Chandra College students, appearing for their BCom third-semester exams at Netaji Nagar Day College, threatened the invigilators who caught them with mobiles inside the exam hall on Wednesday. The examinees did not even spare the college principal. The college lodged a complaint at the Netaji Nagar police station and also wrote to Calcutta University's office of the controller of examinations. Students from three colleges have been taking their exams at Netaji Nagar Day College. Right after the exam began at 10am, the invigilators said, they spotted some of the candidates writing answers while looking at their phones. They reported against five Prafulla Chandra College candidates for copying answers from mobiles and demanded their phones back. But the students reportedly started shouting and threatening them. The college lodged a police complaint following which cops from the Netaji Nagar PS were deployed to start the exam, scheduled in the second shift. Again, an examinee from the same college was caught with a mobile, leading to another round of commotion that continued till evening. Netaji Nagar Day College principal Sonali Banerjee Jash told TOI, "We are very worried." A teacher said, "This is leading to a law-and-order problem, our private security is threatened." CU interim VC Santa Datta De expressed her concerns. "We take a zero-tolerance approach to mobiles being taken inside exam halls. We received the letter from the college, and we will take action soon," she said. "Exams will be held following proper rules and regulations, and we will not make any compromise." Several college heads and teachers said candidates should be frisked during university exams. A teacher at a college said, "When I recently caught a girl with a mobile and I asked her to write an application, she refused and alleged I was harassing her."