Haryana-based syndicate behind cheating racket: Bains

Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh on Friday, Punjab education minister Harjot Singh Bains alleged that the Haryana Police failed to act against the cheating syndicate, and it was Punjab Police that cracked the pharmacy examination cheating case

Punjab Police have busted an interstate cheating racket allegedly operating from Haryana’s Bhiwani and arrested 38 people, including 13 handlers and 25 candidates, in connection with cheating during the Baba Farid University of Health Sciences pharmacy officers’ recruitment examination on July 19.

Addressing a press conference in Chandigarh on Friday, Punjab education minister Harjot Singh Bains alleged that the Haryana Police failed to act against the cheating syndicate, and it was Punjab Police that cracked the pharmacy examination cheating case.

He said investigation had established that the case was not a paper leak but a highly organised, technology-driven cheating racket.

The minister alleged that the syndicate was being operated by a mastermind based in Haryana’s Bhiwani and criticised the Haryana government for “failing to curb organised examination fraud”.

The Bhagwant Mann government has faced sustained opposition attacks over alleged paper leaks in Punjab, with the BJP, Congress and SAD seeking the resignation of Bains and health minister Dr Balbir Singh. The opposition cited six paper leak incidents, including the pharmacy exam. However, AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, Mann and Bains have repeatedly denied the charges.

‘Sophisticated technology used to help candidates cheat’Bains said the Mann government in Punjab will not allow anyone to defame Punjab’s education system.He said the Punjab Police had exposed a network that allegedly used sophisticated technology to help candidates cheat in examinations.“The accused used modified Kechaoda (K33) phones, hidden communication equipment and other advanced gadgets to communicate answers to candidates during the exam,” he said, adding that the school education department was exploring blockchain technology to make examinations tamper-proof and unhackable.

Inspector General of Police, Faridkot Range, Nilambri Jagdale, said this was not a “paper leak case” but a highly organised, technology-driven cheating racket with inter-state linkages.

She said investigation had so far identified 13 handlers, including eight from Haryana and Rajasthan, and five from Punjab.

She said that on the morning of July 19, police received specific intelligence inputs that an inter-state gang was planning to facilitate cheating during the pharmacy examination using advanced wireless and Bluetooth devices.

“The intelligence led us to a house in Society Nagar, Faridkot, belonging to Gurmeet Singh. It had been converted into a makeshift control room equipped with wireless transmitters, modified mobile phones and handlers waiting to dictate answers,” she said.

The IGP said a candidate from Bhiwani used a spy camera to capture images of the question paper immediately after the examination began. She said the images were transmitted to a handler from Bhiwani, who solved the paper and the answers were then relayed to the control room from where the same were dictated the answers to candidates inside examination centres through wireless devices.

“Before they could execute the plan, Punjab Police teams raided the control room and arrested all six handlers red-handed,” she added.

Police recovered 38 modified Kechaoda phones, including 25 from candidates and 13 from handlers, besides 21 hidden wireless earpieces and two vehicles used in the operation.