Ramakrishna Vidyabhawan at Raiganj. (Nityananda Sarkar)

Raiganj, Feb. 20: Authorities of a school here have complained that their Madhyamik examinees had been stripped and beaten up by teachers at an examination centre — a charge denied by invigilators who accused the students of cheating.

The teacher-in-charge of Vatol Sebagram High School, Mohammed Kuddus, said he has lodged a complaint with the Raiganj centre-in-charge of Madhyamik Examination, Sushil Goswami, against the invigilators of Ramakrishna Vidyabhawan, where their students sat for the test.

According to Vidyabhawan sources, Tuesday was slated for the life science test. “Some students of the Vatol school who sat in Room No. 11 started cheating as soon as the exams started. We took away the papers they had been copying from. But that did not stop them from cheating. When we challenged them again, they protested. Others also joined the ruckus. Some of the examinees pulled the zippers of their pants and started making fun of us. They also abused us. Naturally, we had to be tough to control the situation,” said Shantanu Guha.

Both Guha and Dilip Roy, who were invigilating at the room, denied beating up any student.

Guardians of the cheating students, on the other hand, alleged that the Vidyabhawan teachers had misbehaved with the examinees.

Mohammed Jalauddin said: “I do not definitely support my son Anaul Haque if he had been found cheating. But should a teacher beat up a student so mercilessly? He had slapped Anaul on his ear following which he could not sleep for the whole night. Who will be held responsible for it?” the father asked.

The teacher-in-charge of the Vatol school said he, too, did not support cheating inside the examination hall. “But at the same time, I cannot support physical assault or stripping of students by teachers,” he said.

Goswami said he had received complaints from both ends. “I held a meeting with the authorities of both the schools today. They have been told that cheating in examinations will not be allowed at any cost. At the same time, the teachers should also behave,” he added.