Frisking can be a tedious task, but what Army officials did to more than 1,000 candidates in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district to avoid it, is incredible. They forced the around 1,150 candidates - who appeared for the recruitment exam for soldiers - to simply strip down to their underwear and write the hour-long paper. So, the men sat in the open, on the ground, their dignity tattered. According to a report in Indian Express, sources at the Army Regional Office (ARO) said the move was to "save time on frisking so many people”.

Muzaffarpur (Bihar) (28/02/2016): Candidates asked to appear for Army recruitment exam in their underwear. pic.twitter.com/GWbTNpiuhK

— ANI (@ANI_news) February 29, 2016

A total of 1,159 candidates wrote the exam on Sunday, which included 775 candidates in the general duty category, 211 candidates in clerical and 173 candidates in technical. A candidate, who did not wish to be named, told the paper, “As we entered Chakkar Maidan, the venue, we were asked to remove all clothes except underwear. We had no option but to comply with the instructions even though it felt odd. The gap between candidates was about eight feet in all directions." Another candidate to the paper, “We do not expect to appear for such large scale examinations in halls, but telling us to remove our clothes was not dignified." Col V S Godhara, director, ARO, told the paper that thorough frisking is a norm to ensure that candidates carry minimum external things to the exam centre. But when shown the photographs of the event, he told the paper, “I have seen one photo (from the exam centre) but that is too vague.” The report said that local residents pointed out that this was the second time that the Army recruitment test was being conducted in this manner.