Himalayan News Service

Kolkata, April 2:

Using cigarette butts and incense sticks to mark their bodies, two wily students in West Bengal feigned chickenpox symptoms to be able to sit with quarantined examinees and cheat in their examinations.

The two, Abhijit Das and Suresh Das, were caught cheating during their English paper on March 24 while appearing as quarantined students for the Higher Secondary examination in Bankura High Schoo. The students had bribed local hospital workers for two certificates that stated they had chickenpox. Then on the examination day, they painted chickenpox marks on their faces and arms with cigarette butts and incense sticks.

Quarantined examinees write their examinations in seclusion and vigilance for such students can, at times, be less strict.

As the examination began, the two got busy writing. Suddenly, an invigilator noticed them using mobile phones. They were caught, questioned. The cheating students confessed they had feigned their disease to be able to sit in isolation and cheat.

The authorities submitted a report to the state education authorities. A decision on the boys was yet to be made.