Police bust cheating racket in constable recruitment exam, 2 arrested

The Kangra district police busted a cheating racket involved in the Himachal Pradesh Police Constable Recruitment Examination and arrested two persons, Kangra Superintendent of Police 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 a tip-off about individuals attempting to cheat by offering unlawful assistance to candidates to help them clear the examination.

Acting swiftly, 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 against Vikram and Balvinder alias Sonu Jaryal — both residents of Jawali, Kangra, the SP said.

Shalini Agnihotri said that both have been arrested, and interrogation was going on to find out any deeper conspiracy, if any. So far, seven individuals have been questioned in connection with this case, she said.

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 people were arrested with electronic devices for allegedly cheating during the Navodaya Vidyalaya Samiti recruitment examinations held at Shimla.

Agnihotri said that the police have launched a thorough investigation to unearth the entire network and identify others involved in the cheating racket.