PGIMER exam cheats used smartphone app: CBI

A gang of exam cheats, who were arrested on charges of manipulating the entrance test for courses at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, had made use of modern technology to pull off the trick. Rajesh Ahuja reports.

A gang of exam cheats, who were arrested on charges of manipulating the entrance test for courses at the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh, had made use of modern technology to pull off the trick.

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A CBI probe has revealed that they had used a Galaxy Note smartphone, loaded

with an application called ‘Snapsync’, to send images of the question paper to individuals outside.

“The Galaxy Note phones were carried by dummy candidates sent to the examination hall by Gurvi Reddy, the alleged kingpin of the gang. With the help of Snapsync, one can access images taken by a smartphone on all synced devices. Once the image of the question paper was uploaded using the ‘Snapsync’ application, it was accessed by two other accused in Patna and Hyderabad with the help of synced devices.

These two — who were experts in the subject — answered the questions and emailed them back to Reddy, who read out the answers to client candidates inside the examination hall. The candidates were equipped with Bluetooth-enabled phones and micro-earphones,” a CBI official said.

Investigators, meanwhile, suspect that Reddy may have carried out similar operations in other professional examinations too. He was allegedly helping around two dozen candidates for a fee of Rs. 50 lakh each. CBI officials are also probing if Reddy received any assistance from insiders.

Exam cancelled
Meanwhile, PGIMER on Thursday cancelled the entrance exam that was held last week. It is now likely to be conducted in the second week of December, depending on the availability of centres.