E-Paper
HP constable recruitment exam held under strict vigil
A police constable recruitment examination was held across the state on Sunday. A strict vigil was maintained to prevent use of unfair means in the exam, which already
A police constable recruitment examination was held across the state on Sunday. A strict vigil was maintained to prevent use of unfair means in the exam, which already had to be cancelled once after a personation racket at an exam centre in Kangra came to light.
The 736 exam halls at 40 centres were equipped with jammers to block electronic communication devices. Kangra senior superintendent of police (SSP) Vimukt Ranjan said closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras were also installed at the exam centres .
“Candidates were frisked twice before entering the examination hall,” said Ranjan.”Candidates were allowed entry only after verification of their hall tickets and identity cards. They were not allowed to carry any metal object, including hairpins, bracelets, amulets and belts.”
The candidates were not even allowed to wear shoes.
HIGHEST NUMBER OF CANDIDATES IN KANGRA
Around 38,000 candidates appeared for the exam against 1,063 vacancies. The police department had setup 40 examination centres across 12 districts. Around 11,000 candidates appeared in Kangra district alone, the highest in the state. Approximately 7,000 candidates appeared for the exam in Mandi; 3,000 in Chamba, 2,600 in Shimla; 2,900 in Una; 2,500 in Hamirpur; 2,400 in Bilaspur; 2,400 in Sirmaur; 1,989 in Solan and 1,700 in Kullu. Only 25 candidates took the exam in Lahaul and Spiti district.
Learning from its mistakes, the state police doubled the number of exam centres in the state. Only 19 centres were set up for the exam held on August 11, which was cancelled after seven people were arrested for personating candidates and writing the exam in their stead. The mastermind of the operation hails from Jawali area of Kangra . In subsequent raids, police recovered ₹11 lakh from his house. A car and four vests fitted with electronic devices were also seized.
So far, 30 people, including ten people from Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh have been arrested by the special investigation team of the Himachal Pradesh Police.
Many of the accused were under the age of 20. They have been disqualified from appearing in any recruitment exam.The primary accused is still at large.
