Alleging insiders to be behind circulation of photographs of the ongoing Matriculation Examination question papers on various social media, over 30 activists of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP) staged a dharna in front of the Board of Secondary Education (BSE) office here on Tuesday demanding immediate arrest of the culprits.

The dharna turned violent when some protestors tried to barge into the BSE office by breaking open its main gate. As the waiting policemen tried to block them, a scuffle ensued between them. Police, however, brought the situation under control after resorting to a mild lathi-charge to disperse the protestors.

For allegedly attacking the men in uniform and misbehaving with senior police officers, the local Mangalabag police arrested at least 21 protestors, including a woman. Sources said more arrests are likely to follow as the police are looking into involvement of others. “All the arrested ABVP activists will be forwarded to court,” informed city DCP Akhileswar Singh.

It may be noted that when the fortnight-long Matriculation examinations began on Friday last, photographs of the MCQ paper went viral in social media about half an hour after the paper ended at 10 am. The BSE authorities and the Government claimed that it was technically not question paper leak as the paper was over by the time the incident happened.

The Government, nevertheless, took the matter seriously and entrusted the case to be investigated by the cyber police station of the Crime Branch. Although the police have swung into action, they have not been able to identify the culprits yet. On the other hand, the anxious examinees and their parents are a worried lot over the circulation of question papers in social media.