Bettiah: The matric examinations passed off peacefully on Tuesday in Raxaul, the East Champaran town bordering Nepal where students had gone on rampage on Monday protesting what they said were "out of syllabus" questions in the Bihar School Examination Board's exam.

Government officials are learnt to have met students at Raja Ram Saha College, the epicentre of Monday's protest, and assured of addressing grievances if found true.

"Students feared poor showing in the examination as some of the questions were out of syllabus in Hindi and mathematics," said Raxaul police station officer-in-charge Ugranath Jha.

Raxaul sub-divisional magistrate Shree Prakash said the district administration has made elaborate arrangements to pre-empt any untoward incident. "There has been deployment of police at strategic locations," he said, in view of examination for a majority of the students drawing to a close on Tuesday.

On Monday, hundreds of students had smashed desks, chairs and CCTV cameras, burnt tyres, damaged vehicles and clashed with police in Raxaul, around 204km north of Patna. The protests, which began with damaging property at the Raja Ram Saha College, had spiralled out across the town of Raxaul.

The students had virtually broguth the town to a standstill, with traders in the main commercial area downing shutters out of fear. Policemen were also injured and vehicles - including government ones - were damaged.