4 more aspirants booked for ‘cheating’ in physical tests

In the FIR that was registered on Thursday, Powai police have booked two persons, Sandeep Chavan and Nagesh Chavan. An officer said, “Both the candidates underwent a registration process after entering the ground on Thursday. As RFID chips are used to record the results of the candidates’ physical tests to rule out malpractice, soon after the completion of the registration process, they were allotted chips that they were supposed to tie to both their legs before participating in the race.”

The chips have an identification number/code too which is updated next to their names at the time of registration. However, the two men, who the police suspect belong to the same native place, allegedly exchanged their chips before the race.

“We came to know about the cheating while recording their results as we noticed that there was a one-minute difference in timing between the two chips allotted to Sandeep. According to the results shown on one RFID chip, Sandeep had completed the race at one time while the second chip which was given to him finished a minute later,” said an officer.

Police then started conducting an inquiry, during which they checked the CCTV footage installed at the ground. “In the footage, we found them exchanging the chips at the ground,” said an officer.

One of the personnel working for the recruitment process then reported the matter to Powai police station, where a case was registered on March 23.

Similarly, in the case that was registered on March 20, two candidates identified as Sharad Velturkar and Kundan Chotpagaar allegedly resorted to cheating during the physical test of the recruitment process on February 24.