In a significant operation, the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) dismantled an examination cheating racket, leading to the arrest of four individuals. The accused were caught red-handed during the Group-D examination for the Allahabad High Court, which took place at Pragya Girls Inter College in Chinhat and Loyola International School in Gomtinagar Extension.
The arrested suspects included Ved Prakash (Firozabad), Harendra Gujjar (Mathura), and Banwari Singh (Rajasthan), who were acting as “solvers” to assist candidates in cheating. Rinku Gujjar (Firozabad), a candidate, was also arrested for being involved in the cheating operation. The suspects were sent to jail on Monday.
During their arrest, STF recovered a range of incriminating items, including a mobile phone, several forged documents such as admit cards and Aadhaar cards, four question booklets, OMR sheets, and other tools used to manipulate the exam process. These items confirmed the scale of the cheating racket, which spanned across multiple states in India.
Deputy SP of STF, Avnishwar Chand Srivastava, who led the investigation, revealed that the gang had been operating on a national level. They specialized in targeting government recruitment exams across the country. The gang charged candidates between Rs 4 to 5 lakh for arranging for solvers to take the exams on their behalf. The solvers would travel to the exam city, complete the examination by submitting the answer sheets, and then immediately leave.
During the interrogation, Ved Prakash confessed that he ran a coaching institute and had appeared in multiple competitive exams himself. He allegedly built a network by promising students guaranteed success in exams, recruiting them for his operation. Ved also admitted to having appeared as a proxy candidate for several students in the past, making the scam a well-organized and persistent issue.
The STF’s successful operation has brought attention to the larger issue of examination fraud and efforts are now underway to dismantle further networks and prosecute all those involved in such activities.
