Muzaffarpur/Patna, Dec. 20: Hundreds of candidates appearing in the Teachers’ Eligibility Test at Ram Dayalu Singh College in Muzaffarpur went on a rampage today over delay in the start of the exam.

The examinees not only tore up the question papers but also heckled the invigilators. They also exchanged blows with policemen who had come to control the situation. Archana Kumari, an examinee, said: “Though the test was scheduled to start at 10.30am, the question paper was distributed only around 10.45am.”

Sub-divisional officer (east) Rajesh Bharti and deputy superintendent of police (town) Baccha Singh reached the college to take stock of the situation. Bharti said: “The examination at Ram Dayalu Singh College has been cancelled. The education department will soon conduct fresh examination.”

He added that protests had been reported from other centres as well. Protesting examinees created a ruckus at Lalit Narayan Tirhut College, Muzaffarpur and Dawood Nagar in Aurangabad.

In the state capital, however, the examinations were conducted without hiccups. Some students, however, found it difficult to answer on the optical mark recorder (OMR) sheets. Sunita Singh, an examinee at JD Women’s College, Patna, said: “The question paper was easy but it took lot of time to fill up the OMR sheets as it was new for us.”

Sources said around 26 lakh students took the exam today. Hassan Waris, the director of State Council of Education, Research and Training, said: “Around 90 per cent examinees took the test today. Barring a few incidents, the exam was conducted peacefully.”