Bhubaneswar: The Board of Secondary Education suffered a fresh embarrassment on Monday after the English question paper for the matriculation exam was allegedly leaked on WhatsApp.

While the exam started at 9am, videos and photos came to the fore around 10.30am on WhatsApp and went viral.

The board has handed over the case to the cyber cell of crime branch. Two officers visited the board office following the incident and questioned some officials. The investigators also collected documents from the board office.

School and mass education minister Badri Narayan Patra said: "There was no question paper leak. We are looking into the matter and will take stringent action against the people involved in the incident."

Photos of the question paper allegedly surfaced on WhatsApp about two hours after the exam began, indicating that it had been leaked. Although government authorities denied the reports and said that there was no authenticity behind the incident.

Parents have also expressed concern over the incident. "This creates a bad impression in the minds of students. Such things should be stopped at the earliest or else it would lead to drastic consequences," said Akash Nayak, a parent.