The Bihar Public Service Commission (BPSC) on Monday cancelled its preliminary examination held at one of the centres in Patna, where an official on duty died of heart attack following a ruckus created by “unruly” candidates on December 13.

The incident took place at the Bapu Pariksha Parisar in Patna's Kumhrar locality, which was one of the more than 900 centres for the Combined (Preliminary) Competitive Examination (CCE). Nearly 5 lakh candidates appeared for the exam held for hiring people in Group A and B posts.

"The BPSC has decided to cancel its preliminary examination held at Bapu Pariksha Parisar examination centre due to disruption created by a group of unruly aspirants as part of a conspiracy to disrupt the exam,” BPSC Chairman Parmar Ravi Manubhai told reporters.

The Commission will soon announce a fresh date for the examination for that particular centre. Around 6,500 students, who had appeared for the exam on December 13, will be able to write the papers again, he said.

However, those who created trouble at the centre on Friday would be debarred, Manubhai said.

"The commission has identified 30-40 aspirants - who can be described as anti-social elements. They created disruption in the examination process at the centre. More such candidates are being identified by the police. They all will be debarred from appearing in the BPSC exam," the chairman said.

On the date of the exam, a group of candidates at Bapu Pariksha Parisar stormed out of their examination halls, alleging that question papers were leaked on social media before the exam started.

A huge crowd had gathered outside the centre as well and the situation was brought under control through police intervention.

The Patna district administration on Sunday recommended slapping of murder charges on those who had tried to disrupt a recent examination.

Following the ruckus, an additional examination superintendent, Ram Iqbal Singh, died of cardiac arrest and a woman candidate fell unconscious.

The BPSC chairman on Monday said, "The CCE 70th preliminary examination was held in a single shift from noon to 2 pm. The examination was held in 912 centres across the state, and of those, free and fair exams were held in 911 centres," he said.

"CCTV footage of Bapu Pariksha Parisar has revealed that some of the candidates snatched question papers from the invigilators and stormed out of the examination hall screaming that the paper had been leaked.

“Snatching question papers from invigilators and showing those to outsiders are tantamount to looting public property. Police action will be initiated against these persons who seem to have acted as a part of a conspiracy," Manubhai said.