LUCKNOW , JUNE 19,
The Uttar Pradesh police on Monday claimed to have busted a cheating racket and prevented the use of “solvers” as well as improvised electronic devices that were placed to facilitate cheating in the recruitment exam for police constables scheduled for June 18 and 19.
While the STF nabbed 11 persons of a gang in Gorakhpur, another nine, including setters, solvers and candidates, were arrested in Allahabad.
More than 22 lakh candidates are appearing for the exam in 860 centres spread across 56 districts.
The STF arrested 11 persons in Gorakhpur and six in Allahabad in connection with a cheating racket in which “solvers” were being in place of the aspirants through illegal means in lieu of money.
Over ?5 lakh in cash and 14 entrance cards were seized in Gorakhpur, while six Bluetooth devices, 11 admit cards, 20 fake thumb imprints and 12 Aadhaar cards and other identity cards were seized in Allahabad. According to the STF, the accused had managed to prepare fake finger impressions through a laboratory in Kolkata.
Then through the use of a software, the photos of the candidates and the solvers were “mixed up” to prepare entrance cards for the cheaters, police said.
The entire cheating act cost the candidates Rs 2 lakh, out of which Rs 70,000 was given to the solvers and if the candidate succeeded, he or she would have to pay up Rs 8 lakh to the gang, the STF said. The accused in Gorakhpur were booked under several sections of the IPC including 120 B and 420 and Section 66 of the IT Act.
UP police spokesperson Rahul Srivastava said that one of the accused had “confessed to taking money from candidates and placing solvers for them” in the examination.
In a connected case in Allahabad’s Shivkuti area, the police arrested three more persons on Sunday and seized electronic devices, including “spy mics,” which they planned to use for cheating. The main accused identified as Devki Nandan Patel, Radheshyam Pandey and Sudhir Yadav are still absconding, however.
Allahabad SSP Nitin Tiwari said the modus operandi of the group was such that “the person sitting for examination would immediately send pictures of the question paper to the solvers, who would then provide the answers through a spy mike in his ear.”
The police also recovered two Bluetooth devices, two entrance slips and three batteries from the accused.
Not just the shadow of cheating rackets, the exam was also marked by claims of online paper leak, sending the UP police into a tizzy.
The police, however, clarified that all such reports were baseless.
“All fake. “No question paper has been leaked,” O.P Singh, UP DGP, said. The top cop also carried out surprise inspection of the examination centres in lucknow.
In Bulandshahr’s Jahangirabad, police arrested a person for impersonating as a candidate in the examination.
The police recovered four entrance cards in the name of different persons, two Aadhaar cards and two identity cards from the accused Umesh Chaudhary, a police spokesperson said.
