Kolkata, Feb 18 (IANS): Five persons have been arrested after a probe, ordered by the West Bengal Board of Secondary Examination (WBBSE), into circulation of question papers of the Madhaymik examination on social media, the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID) said on Monday.

During the examination, which started on February 12, questions were circulated on social media platforms on four consecutive days when students appeared for their English, Bengali, history and geography papers.

Sajidur Rahman of Hooghly and two Class 12 students, Sahabul Amir of Malda and Sahabaz Mondal of Bardhaman East, have been arrested. Two Madhaymik candidates have also been held, the CID said in a release.

"The accused had opened a WhatsApp group for sending questions and answers. It has been found that papers were sent out through phone for solving and dissemination of answers after the start of examination," the release said.

The CID said raids were being conducted to arrest others involved in the racket.

WBBSE President Kalyanmoy Ganguly had said on February 12: "Our Deputy Secretary received a message on WhatsApp with an image of the first page of the day's question paper at 1.43 p.m. Following this, we lodged an FIR with the Bidhannagar Cyber Department of the police."

Ganguly also mentioned that since the students were inside the examination hall when the incident occurred, the examination was not cancelled.