Students appear for board exams amid tight security, police crack down on rumour-mongers

Most of the students appeared for board exams in riot-affected northeast Delhi amid tight security on Monday, as authorities maintained that the situation remained calm in the area.

There has been no fresh violence since last five days and heavy deployment of security personnel continues in Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Babarpur, Chand Bagh, Shiv Vihar, Bhajanpura, Yamuna Vihar and Mustafabad, police said.

They said 40 people have been arrested across Delhi for spreading false rumours of violence that had triggered panic in the city on Sunday night.

Around 98 per cent attendance was recorded in the board exams held in violence-hit areas on Monday, said the CBSE which had earlier postponed class 10 and 12 exams in northeast Delhi and parts of east Delhi till February 29 in the wake of the communal riots over the amended citizenship law.

According to an official, out of 2,888 students, 2,837 appeared for the physics and music papers.

Like Priya, a Class XII student who is a resident of Maujpur, many students said their preparations were affected due to the violence.

"I had prepared for the exam but I didn't get sufficient time for revision due to the riot situation. I could not sleep or focus because there was so much fear in the locality," she said after her Physics exam.

Another student, Mohammad Aahil, said, "We had to leave our home in Karawal Nagar for Ghaziabad after the situation there turned tense. I didn't have my books and somehow studied using internet."