Bhubaneswar: The annual High School Certificate examinations held by the Board of Secondary Education began on Friday with alleged reports of question paper leak surfacing from Aul in Kendrapada district.

Pictures of the Modern Indian Language (Odia) question paper surfaced on social media and messaging apps around two hours after the exam began indicating it had been leaked. The government authorities have denied a leak.

"The examination began at 8.30am and the question papers surfaced around 10.30am. So there is no case of question paper leak. We have spoken to the centre superintendent and the district education officer and there is no reason to panic," said school and mass education department secretary Pradipta Mohapatra.

A meeting was held at the Board of Secondary Education office in Cuttack after the matter came to the fore.

"Preliminary investigation has revealed no leak of papers happened. The examination will continue on schedule. Students need to remain calm and appear the papers with confidence," said the school and mass education minister Badri Narayan Patra.

In all 6,08,031 students are taking the examination at 2,818 centres. The exam will continue on March 8.

A three-tier security system has been put in place to keep vigil on the exam centres. At the district education officer level, 58 flying squads and 37 central squads have been formed. Teachers have also been included in these squads.

The minister paid a visit to University High School here. Thirteen prisoners are appearing the examination this year. As many as 302 nodal centres, including 23 at different police stations in remote areas, have been set up. Board of Secondary Education president Jahan Ara Begum said cases of malpractice would be dealt with seriously.