Bhubaneswar: The Board of Secondary Education faced another embarrassment on Tuesday after the matriculation science question paper went viral on chat apps minutes after the exam began.

A source said pictures of question papers were allegedly circulated on WhatsApp at Anandpur in Keonjhar and Kamakhyanagar in Dhenkanal districts. The annual examination began on February 23.

This is the fourth instance of an annual high school certificate examination question paper going viral.

Earlier, question papers of Modern Indian Language (Odia), English and mathematics allegedly went viral on social media.

School and mass education minister Badrinarayan Patra, however, refuted allegations of another question paper leak and called it an intentional attempt to disrupt the examination process. "The question papers are surfacing after the examination started, so we cannot call it a leak. Students should stay calm and write the examination," Patra said.

The crime branch has already begun an investigation in the matter.