Bhubaneswar: The Council of Higher Secondary Education on Tuesday banned the use of mobile phones during the upcoming Plus Two examination that begins on March 6.

The move comes after reports of alleged matriculation question paper leaks started doing the rounds. The council has already issued letters to all Plus Two examination centre superintendents about the ban.

No students, invigilators, members of special squads would be allowed to carry mobile phones into the examination centres. If necessary, the centre superintendent would create a cloakroom only for the members of staff to deposit their phones.

The directive also stated that no official or teacher should be in possession of mobile phones when the question paper packets are opened. However, the centre superintendent can have a mobile phone to remain in contact with the authorities.

The school and mass education department on Monday suspended five officials on annual Higher Secondary Council exam duty in Angul and Ganjam district on charges of dereliction of duties.

"We have asked the centre superintendents to ensure that all precautionary measures are taken so that question papers do not leave the centres during the examination hours," said Prabodh Kumar Panda, the council's deputy controller of exams.

Earlier, the Board of Secondary Education had also issued a similar directive seeking stricter enforcement of the mobile phone ban.

In a related development, members of the RSS's students' wing, Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), scuffled with board officials on Tuesday during a protest against repeated question paper leaks.

Police took 15 ABVP men into preventive custody.

"We came to submit a memorandum over the leaks. But we did not get any satisfactory answer from the authorities," said Sukesh Jena, an ABVP activist.