Karnataka Police Constable Exam: Confusion over OMR, question paper numbers triggers brief chaos at Vijayapura Centre

Vijayapura : Confusion over the serial numbers printed on OMR answer sheets and question papers led to a brief disruption during the Karnataka Police Constable recruitment examination at Sharadamba PU College in Tikota of Vijayapura district, prompting several candidates to walk out of the examination centre.
The examination, conducted by the Karnataka Examinations Authority (KEA) for recruitment to 1,453 Male and Female Civil Police Constable posts, was held at 61 centres across Vijayapura district on Sunday, including the Tikota centre.
According to district officials, question papers reached the centre on time for the 9:30 am examination and were distributed in accordance with the KEA Standard Operating Procedure (SOP). OMR answer sheets were issued after the question papers had been distributed.
During the process, some candidates objected that the serial numbers on their OMR sheets did not match those on the question papers. Claiming the mismatch was irregular, they refused to continue with the examination and walked out of the examination hall.
Officials said the Centre Supervisor and Centre Chief informed the candidates that, under the KEA SOP, there is no requirement for the OMR sheet number and question paper number to be identical. They explained that candidates are required only to enter the Question Paper Series Code, Version Code and their registration number on the OMR answer sheet.
District authorities said similar confusion was reported at a few other examination centres, where candidates resumed writing the examination after officials clarified the procedure. However, at the Tikota centre, some candidates remained unconvinced and left the campus.
Authorities said the candidates later demanded to be allowed back into the examination centre. However, they were denied re-entry as examination rules prohibit candidates from returning after leaving the premises to safeguard the integrity of the examination process.
According to officials, some of the candidates who had exited allegedly created a disturbance outside the centre and attempted to re-enter by pushing the gate. Police intervened and brought the situation under control using minimum force, they said.
Despite the disruption, over 100 candidates remained inside the examination centre and completed the examination. KEA also granted additional time to compensate for the delay caused by the confusion.
In a clarification issued after the incident, KEA said misinformation circulating on social media had led some candidates to believe that the OMR answer sheet number and question paper number must match.
The authority clarified that no such requirement exists in its official notifications, instruction booklets or instructions issued at examination centres. It stated that candidates are only required to correctly fill in the Question Paper Series Code and Version Code on the OMR sheet and that there is no rule mandating matching serial numbers.
KEA urged the public not to circulate false or misleading information regarding the examination process on social media.
Speaking on the incident, Vijayapura Deputy Commissioner K Anand said, “This is clearly mentioned in the general instructions on every admit card: Even if someone finishes the paper early, they have to sit in the centre until the final bell and submit it to the Centre Supervisor and Invigilator. Before the exam is complete, KEA property cannot be taken out. But they had already gone out.”
“Then they came and tried to create problems for the candidates who were writing the exam by pushing the gate and saying, ‘We will come inside again’. In that situation, the police handled it with minimum force. After that, due to this confusion, there was a time delay. KEA has provided extra time for that. Accordingly, the candidates who were writing the exam completed the process and submitted the OMR sheets to the Centre Chief and Invigilator as per SOP. The next process is to send them to KEA,” he added.