STF, cops nab 19, foil bid to rig police recruitment exam
Most of those held in Gorakhpur were solvers while those held in Allahabad were members of a hitech gang planning to use bluetooth devices
ALLAHABAD/GORAKHPUR: UP special task force (STF) arrested at least 11 people from Gorakhpur while Allahabad police nabbed 8 others who were out to facilitate cheating by using hi-tech gadgets like spy-mics in police recruitment examination. The two-day examination, which began on Monday, is being conducted by the UP Police Recruitment Board at 860 centres in 56 districts.
ALLAHABAD/GORAKHPUR: UP special task force (STF) arrested at least 11 people from Gorakhpur while Allahabad police nabbed 8 others who were out to facilitate cheating by using hi-tech gadgets like spy-mics in police recruitment examination.
The two-day examination, which began on Monday, is being conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Police Recruitment Board at 860 centres in 56 districts to fill 41,520 posts.
Inspector general (IG), STF, Amitabh Yash said as many as 11 people were arrested from Gorakhpur while five were nabbed from Allahabad.
According to police, most of the accused arrested from Gorakhpur were solvers while those arrested in Allahabad were members of a hi-tech gang who were planning to use bluetooth devices such as spy-mic in the examination.
“These are small devices which can be hidden inside the ear. Generally, a mobile device is strapped somewhere on the body so that the answers can be dictated,” he said.
A police spokesman said out of 11 accused, 7 belonged to Gorakhpur while four were from Bihar. He added that the mastermind Anil Giri was a resident of Gorakhpur’s Pipiganj.
The spokesman said Rs 5.78 lakh cash and ID cards of a dozen candidates were recovered from the possession of the members.
Police said the suspects were arrested from Gorakhpur railway station and nearby Yatayat crossing on Sunday night.
A police officer privy to the investigation in Gorakhpur said Giri informed the STF that the gang used to charge Rs 50,000 each from candidates and paid the solvers between Rs 10,000-30,000 to appear for the examination impersonating as aspirants.
Giri said he was staying in Patna to prepare for competitive examinations and formed a gang with his friends.
He informed the STF that fake biometric identity of at least 70 candidates was prepared by taking their thumb impression and they got duplicate impressions prepared at a lab in Kolkata to avoid being caught.
The officer said Dheerendra Kumar alias Dheeru, a native of Bihar who arranged solvers for the gang, reportedly told the police that he came in contact with Giri in Allahabad.
Besides Giri, the arrested people included solvers Anand Yadav, Sanjeev Singh, Sunil Kumar, Amarnath Yadav, Dheerendra Kumar alias Dheeru, Vivek Kumar, Vipin Kumar, Shankar Kumar, and candidates Vikas Yadav and Satyavant Yadav.
Allahabad police also nabbed eight people, three on Sunday night and five on Monday.
Allahabad SSP Nitin Tiwari said the people arrested in connection with the racket included Irfan Ahmed, Imran, Kaushal, Satendra Kumar Singh, Pawan Kumar Singh, Phool Chand Patel, Manish Kumar Yadav, and Ajay Kumar Yadav.
He said during interrogation the accused revealed that the gang was led by Devki Nandan of Soraon (Allahabad), Radhey Shyam Pandey of Ambedkar Nagar district and Sudhir Kumar Yadav of Uttraon (Allahabad).
The SSP said a hunt was on to nab the gang leaders, who allegedly used to take Rs 5 lakh each from a candidate.
Radhey Shyam Pandey had been arrested in the past too and was sent to jail for fraud and running rackets.
Uttar Pradesh DGP OP Singh said special instructions had been issued to keep a close watch on activities on social media.
“There was a rumour on social media that the question paper of the ongoing examination was out in the public domain. The paper which was doing rounds eventually turned out to be fake,” he said. (WITH PTI INPUTS)
› These are small devices (bluetooth devices such as spymic) which can be hidden inside the ear. Generally, a mobile device is strapped somewhere on the body so that the answers can be dictated.
AMITABH YASH, IG, STF