Cheating racket involved in recruitment exam busted

The Kangra district police have busted a cheating racket involved in the Himachal Pradesh Police Constable Recruitment Examination and arrested two persons, the Superintendent of Police of Kangra district Shalini Agnihotri revealed here, today.

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The police recruitment examinations were held on Sunday.

The SP said that the arrests were made after the police received secret information about individuals attempting to cheat candidates by offering unlawful assistance to help them clear the examination.

Acting swiftly on the tip-off, a joint team comprising the Security Branch and Palampur Police detained several suspicious individuals from outside an examination centre in Palampur.

During preliminary interrogation, it was revealed that two persons from the Jawali area had devised a plan to extort money from job aspirants. The accused allegedly misled candidates by deploying other youths as proxies to appear for the examination on behalf of the actual candidates, the SP said.

Some candidates appearing in the examination were also interrogated on the spot by the police.

Based on the evidence gathered, the police on Monday registered a criminal case at Palampur Police Station under Sections 318(4) and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (Indian Justice Code) against Vikram and Balvinder alias Sonu Jaryal, both residents of Jawali, district Kangra, the SP said.

The SP said that both have been arrested and interrogation was going on to find out any deeper conspiracy, if any. Seven individuals have been questioned in connection with this case, she said.

It is worth mentioning that both alleged accused persons were previously found involved in suspicious activities. Their names had surfaced in the 2022 police recruitment paper leak case and in the 2019 illegal Bluetooth device usage racket, in which, more than 35 persons were arrested with electronic devices for allegedly cheating during the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti recruitment examinations held at Shimla.

Agnihotri said the police have initiated an investigation to unearth the entire network and identify

others involved in the cheating racket.