Two Haryana residents were arrested and four others, also from the same state, were taken into custody in Thiruvananthapuram on Monday for alleged cheating and impersonation during a technical exam of the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) of Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), police said.
The arrested were identified as Manoj Kumar and Gautam Chauhan who had appeared for the written exam at different centres in the city, under the guise of Sumit Kumar and Sunil Kumar, respectively. They had reportedly flown in from Haryana to appear for the exam for held for the post of Technician-B at the VSSC and had planned to fly back as well.
“We had received an anonymous tip that a few people were going to indulge in cheating and impersonation during the VSSC exams. Based on the tip, we alerted the invigilators of the respective centres. Soon after, we got a call from a centre confirming the same,” said an officer from the Museum police station where the arrest of Chauhan was recorded. Kumar was arrested from a different exam centre falling under the Medical College police station.
“During the questioning, we found that the accused had used mobile phone and Bluetooth earpiece to cheat during the exam. They [the accused] had fixed the mobile phone inside his clothes with a belt in such a way that its camera was attached to a shirt button hole. The camera was switched on and the questions were relayed through it using an app to someone outside, who supplied the answers. The accused heard the answers through a tiny Bluetooth earpiece and wrote them. He was able to answer most of the questions,” the officer added.
{{/usCountry}}“During the questioning, we found that the accused had used mobile phone and Bluetooth earpiece to cheat during the exam. They [the accused] had fixed the mobile phone inside his clothes with a belt in such a way that its camera was attached to a shirt button hole. The camera was switched on and the questions were relayed through it using an app to someone outside, who supplied the answers. The accused heard the answers through a tiny Bluetooth earpiece and wrote them. He was able to answer most of the questions,” the officer added.
{{/usCountry}}Ajith V, deputy commissioner of police (DCP) (Law and order), confirmed that four others, all from Haryana, have been taken into custody and are being questioned about their involvement in the case. One of them has been confirmed to have appeared for the exam on Sunday under a different name, he said. “All of them had fake addresses. We have to coordinate with the Haryana police to find out their real backgrounds. We are investigating the involvement of a private coaching centre in Haryana in this cheating and impersonating incident. Around 469 candidates from Haryana had applied for this exam out of which 100 wrote it across 10 different exam centres in Thiruvananthapuram,” he said. Cases were registered at two police stations, in relation to the matter, under the charges of cheating and impersonation.
Meanwhile, VSSC announced that the exams conducted on Sunday were cancelled. “Written tests to the posts of technician -B, draughtsman -B and radiographer-A against advst no 324 in VSSC held on 20.08.2023 at various test centres in Trivandrum is cancelled. The revised schedule for the test will be informed to all the candidates concerned through VSSC website in due course,” a VSSC statement said.