Rajasthan Police SOG Cracks Down on Inter-State Dummy Candidate Racket
The Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan Police has made a significant arrest in connection with a sophisticated inter-state dummy candidate racket targeting the Rajasthan Public Service Commission's Assistant Engineer (Civil) examination. A 36-year-old man from Haryana has been taken into custody for his alleged involvement in this elaborate cheating scheme.
Exam Manipulation Uncovered
Additional Director General of Police (SOG) Vishal Bansal revealed that the examination was conducted on May 21, 2023. During a thorough scrutiny of records, investigators discovered that a dummy candidate had fraudulently appeared in place of the original candidate, identified as Indraj Singh. The investigation revealed that Singh had allegedly tampered with his admit card by affixing another person's photograph and arranged for a substitute to take the exam on his behalf.
Legal Action and Previous Arrests
A formal case was registered in 2024 at the SOG police station under various sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Rajasthan Public Examination (Measures for Prevention of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act, 2022. Police officials confirmed that the original candidate, Indraj Singh, along with his associates Parmeshwar Lal and Salman Khan, were arrested earlier, and a chargesheet has already been filed in court.
The dummy candidate, Gurdeep Das, a resident of Hisar district in Haryana, was apprehended on February 27 and subsequently sent to judicial custody. During interrogation, another accused individual, 36-year-old Ajit Kumar, also from Hisar, was identified and arrested on March 8.
Sophisticated Cheating Methodology
Investigators uncovered that Gurdeep Das allegedly smuggled a smart device into the examination center, where he photographed the question paper and transmitted the images to Kumar waiting outside the premises. Kumar then allegedly utilized internet resources and other individuals to solve the questions, sending the answers back to the dummy candidate during the examination period.
Widespread Exam Fraud Network
Police authorities disclosed that the accused employed advanced technology including smartwatches and Bluetooth devices to facilitate cheating in numerous competitive examinations conducted across multiple states. The SOG investigation revealed that Kumar and his associates participated in multiple recruitment examinations held in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Jharkhand, Tripura, New Delhi, and Karnataka, indicating the extensive reach of their operations.
This case highlights the ongoing challenges faced by examination authorities in maintaining the integrity of competitive recruitment processes and the sophisticated methods employed by cheating networks to circumvent security measures.
