17 FIRs and counting: Madhya Pradesh police probe cheating claims in constable recruitment exam

Senior officers at the Police Headquarters in Bhopal said that following multiple complaints from local battalions across multiple districts, an Aadhaar verification exercise of selected candidates brought to the fore several cases of irregularities.

In Gwalior’s Kampu police station, five candidates selected in the Guard (GD) Constable Recruitment Examination, 2023, have been accused of manipulating their Aadhaar biometrics to cheat in the written examination, according to an official letter from the 14th Battalion of the Special Armed Forces (Visbal), Gwalior.

An FIR has been registered against the candidates. A report on this, dated May 23 this year, was sent from the office of the 14th Battalion, Gwalior, to higher authorities, flagging serious irregularities in the biometric history of the selected candidates.

The complaint said, “During the recruitment process, biometric change was made in Aadhaar, and the photograph taken during the written examination of the candidates appeared different, which raised suspicion that the above candidates have cheated in the written examination.”

Gwalior ASP Dharmveer Singh said, “Recruitment examinations today involve a high degree of technological integration. Any attempt to cheat at any stage is quickly detected. That’s exactly what happened in this case. After these candidates were selected and appeared for document verification, discrepancies were found in their Aadhaar updates, fingerprints, and handwriting. The scrutiny committee discovered clear evidence of document tampering.”

The battalion, acting under orders from the Police HQ in Bhopal, checked the Aadhaar update history of the five individuals through a designated Aadhaar History Committee after obtaining written consent from the candidates. It was found that the accused persons changed their biometric information before the written examination on July 18, 2023 and again after the exam.

The battalion obtained various documents from the Madhya Pradesh Staff Selection Board in Bhopal to verify these suspicions. These included the candidates’ original exam application forms, admit cards, result copies, second-page admit card copies that included the candidates’ thumb impressions and handwriting done in front of the invigilator at the exam centre, the attendance sheets, and photographs taken during registration and lab entry on the exam day.

A handwriting and document comparison was conducted by a committee, which found mismatches in photographs and handwriting samples, reinforcing the suspicion that impersonation had occurred.

The FIR said that the “photo taken at the written examination centre and the handwritten scan file of the applicant… were scrutinised by the document examination committee at the channel level, which raised the suspicion that cheating has been committed in the written examination.”

On May 19, the Gwalior police arrested one Atendra Singh Rana for allegedly manipulating his Aadhaar biometric and photograph three times in an attempt to become a police constable. An FIR was registered against him at City Kotwali police station. According to officials, he updated his Aadhaar card before the written examination and replaced his photograph with that of a proxy candidate. After clearing the exam, he once again changed the Aadhaar photograph — this time updating it with his own image.

The accused person tampered with his Aadhaar records three times between the written examination and the physical test. When he arrived at the 5th Battalion in Morena for document verification, the scrutiny committee noticed irregularities in his Aadhaar biometric history. During questioning, the suspect allegedly admitted to having made three biometric and photo updates to facilitate cheating.

Station House Officer Dipendra Yadav confirmed the arrest, saying, “He had sent a proxy to appear in the police constable recruitment exam in his place. An investigation is underway, and other individuals linked to this cheating racket will also be arrested.”

Similarly, in Shivpuri district, local police are investigating allegations of irregularities against two men from Gwalior after the local SAF battalion red flagged irregularities in their identification details.