UP STF arrests govt ITI principal, 10 others for alleged CBT exam impersonation racket

Prayagraj: Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has arrested 11 persons, including the principal of a government Industrial Training Institute (ITI), for allegedly allowing impersonators to appear in a computer-based examination (CBT) in place of registered candidates in exchange for money, officials said on Thursday. According to the STF, the arrests were made during a raid at the Government Industrial Training Institute in Naini, where the computer-based theoretical examination of the All India Trade Test was being conducted.

Those arrested are principal Ashok Kumar, examination in-charge Ravi Prakash, five alleged solvers -- Shivam Kumar, Ranvijay Singh, Jai Singh, Jitendra Patel and Dileep Kumar -- and four instructors identified as Phool Prakash, Dheeraj Kumar, Rajesh Kumar and Rajkumar Maurya. The STF said it recovered photocopies of five admit cards, five computer monitors, five CPUs, five keyboards, five mouse devices, Rs 5.10 lakh in cash, examination-related documents, six Android mobile phones and Rs 16,370 in cash recovered during the personal search of the accused.

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An STF officer said the agency had received information that during the CBT examination being conducted in three shifts from July 11 to August 8, officials and employees at the examination centre were allegedly accepting money from candidates and allowing solvers to appear in their place. Acting on the tip-off, the STF's Prayagraj unit conducted a raid on Wednesday and allegedly found solvers taking the examination instead of the original candidates, the officer said.

During interrogation, examination in-charge Ravi Prakash allegedly told investigators that he had been appointed examination in-charge by the principal and that candidates considered weak in studies were asked to pay money, following which solvers were made to take the examination from a separate room in their place. A case has been registered at Naini police station under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Uttar Pradesh Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024. Further legal proceedings are underway, police said.