The arrest of 40 Staff Selection Commission (SSC) candidates from five places across Madhya Pradesh on Sunday is being traced to a Haryana-based gang, which had provided them hi-tech equipment to carry out copying in lieu of Rs 4-5 lakh for each candidate.
The police had rounded up 68 candidates but 28 of them were let go following the investigation. A person from Haryana was in touch with these candidates on line to help them crack questions. The police did not rule out the possibility of one man on the job for each centre. They, however, ruled out the possibility of paper leak as the candidates in question were not aware of the questions asked in the exam in advance.
On Sunday, police had caught 68 candidates of Haryana from across the state while cheating with Bluetooth device, transmitter and mobile phones. The maximum 40 candidates were caught in Rewa, seven in Khandwa, 19 in Chhattarpur and a candidate each in Bhopal and Guna.
In Rewa, Khandwa, Chhattarpur and Guna, candidates had put their mobile phones in their underwear and Bluetooth chip was stuck on the earlobes. In Chhattarpur, candidates were connected with one other and a person from Haryana, who was on the line, was telling them answers. In the same way, candidates were connected with each other in Rewa, Khandwa and Guna as well. However, a candidate, who was caught from Kamla Nehru School, Bhopal, was exchanging messages on phone. Now, police of all these districts are coordinating with each other to clarify whether they were connected to the same person or was it a group of persons answering questions to the candidates of Haryana, who appeared from several districts of Madhya Pradesh.
{{/usCountry}}In Rewa, Khandwa, Chhattarpur and Guna, candidates had put their mobile phones in their underwear and Bluetooth chip was stuck on the earlobes. In Chhattarpur, candidates were connected with one other and a person from Haryana, who was on the line, was telling them answers. In the same way, candidates were connected with each other in Rewa, Khandwa and Guna as well. However, a candidate, who was caught from Kamla Nehru School, Bhopal, was exchanging messages on phone. Now, police of all these districts are coordinating with each other to clarify whether they were connected to the same person or was it a group of persons answering questions to the candidates of Haryana, who appeared from several districts of Madhya Pradesh.
{{/usCountry}}Bhopal DIG Sriniwas Verma said, "All the arrested candidates belong to Haryana and now we are trying to find out whether it was one person, who was messaging and conferencing with all the candidates or was it a group that was dealing with different candidates."
The police also ruled out the possibility of paper leak. Superintendent of police (SP) Anshuman Singh said, "The modus operandi of the candidates makes it clear that it was not a case of paper leak. If it were a case of paper leak, candidates should have known the answers before going into the examination hall. During the interrogation, Pradeep Yadav, who was arrested from Kamla Nehru School, told us that a person from Haryana had approached him and given guarantee of cracking the exam for him in lieu of Rs 4-5 lakh."
Except 28 candidates from Rewa, who were let go, the police have registered cases against 40 candidates under Sections 420, 120 (b) of Indian Penal Code (IPC) and under a section of the Information Technology Act. Twenty-eight candidates, who were allowed to go in Rewa didn't have any of the devices, which other accused candidates had