Candidates appearing for an army recruitment examination in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district were asked to write the paper in their underwear on Sunday, The Indian Express reported. Around 1,160 candidates were asked to take off their clothes before sitting in an open ground, where they wrote their answers. Officials at the Army Regional Office said this was done to “save time on frisking so many people”. “We conduct thorough frisking and ensure that candidates carry minimum external things to the exam centre,” said Col VS Godhara, director of the ARO.

PTI reported that 426 students were expelled after being caught cheating during the first day of the Intermediate Examination that started on February 24. New state Education Minister Ashok Choudhary had on several occasions talked about stringent arrangements to check copying in the board exam. Last year, Vaishali district in the state made news when photographs and reports surfaced of people perched on the window shades of an examination centre passing on answer chits to students appearing for exams inside.

ANI reported that Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar has sought a report from Army Chief Dalbir Singh on the issue.