Punjab: 5 arrested for helping candidates cheat in PPSC naib tehsildar recruitment test

CHANDIGARH: Five people have been arrested for allegedly helping some candidates cheat in the Punjab naib tehsildar recruitment test held in May, police said on Tuesday. Addressing the media in Patiala, Inspector General of Police M S Chhina said three of them were from Punjab's Patiala and two from Haryana's Kurukshetra and Jind. He said a deal was struck at Rs 22 lakh for helping the candidates pass the exam. The police said at least seven to 10 more people involved in it were yet to be arrested. Candidates who took the help of these people were being identified as well, they said.

In October, Congress leader Sukhpal Singh Khaira had alleged a scam in the naib tehsildar recruitment test, and claimed that some candidates who had failed in clerical and other tests topped the exam for this post. Shiromani Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia too had alleged a scam in the test and even sought a CBI probe into it. At that time, the Punjab Public Service Commission had denied the allegations, claiming there was no evidence to suggest the recruitment was compromised in any manner.

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The police on Tuesday said a case under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the IT Act has been registered at the Kotwali police station in Patiala. Eleven electronic devices, seven mini bluetooth earbuds, 12 mobiles, a laptop and two pen drives have been seized from the accused, they said.

Chhina said the accused had some dummy candidates apply for the test and appear for it just so that they could click photos of the question paper using hidden cameras and share them with subject experts in Haryana to solve them. The answers were then conveyed to the actual candidates using electronic devices fitted with sim cards and bluetooth earbuds, he added.