Bathinda: Punjab Police on Sunday said they had dismantled a “highly sophisticated, interstate exam cheating racket” that involved the use of “espionage devices”, like pen cameras, in a recruitment exam for pharmacist posts conducted by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS).At least 28 candidates were caught using devices that were concealed in socks, undergarments and even turbans. Seven ‘conspirators’ were also detained, said police. The health and family welfare department had approached BFUHS last month to conduct the 90-mark recruitment exam for 454 posts. Nearly 5,000 candidates took the test at 18 centres in Faridkot, Kotkapura and Ferozepur districts. The conspirators “penetrated” the exam within minutes, said police. A candidate, Ayush, used a concealed pen camera at a Ferozepur exam centre to scan the question paper, which was WhatsApped between 11:10am and 11:25am to an accomplice, Sajan in Bhiwani, Haryana, who forwarded the paper to Deepak, a solver, who was stationed at a makeshift control room inside the house of ‘mastermind’ Gurmeet Singh in Faridkot, said police. From this location, solvers Manjit Singh and Deepak dictated the answers real-time to several candidates inside exam halls, said police. The university flying squad detected some applicants using communication devices and alerted police. No involvement of any official has been found, said police statement, adding that it wasn’t a paper leak. Dr Neetu Kakkar, superintendent of Guru Gobind Singh Medical College, a BFUHS constituent, also said there was no paper leak. Police said the candidates paid Rs 3.5 lakh to Rs 13 lakh to the conspirators, and several of them had handed over post-dated cheques. Gurmeet was an employee of Sant Kabir Polytechnic College in Fazilka, said the cops. Personnel from Faridkot and Ferozepur Ranges and counterintelligence wing of Punjab Police were involved in the joint operation. As BFUHS was only the exam conducting agency, any further decision on the exam will be taken by govt, Dr Kakkar said. Faridkot DSP Tarlochan Singh said that police are questioning the candidates from whom devices were seized. Director-health services Dr Hitender Kaur told TOI, “The department has asked BFUHS to submit a report and higher authorities will take an appropriate decision.”
