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A massive scam in Madhya Pradesh’s police constable recruitment saw a gang manipulate Aadhaar photos and fingerprints, allowing proxy candidates to take exams.
Bhopal:
A massive scam in the Madhya Pradesh Police constable recruitment exam in 2023 has come into the limelight, where a gang replaced pictures of the students on their Aadhaar cards.
The investigation began in October last year during the physical test round held in Morena district, when a police officer noticed that biometric data and photographs of a few candidates had been updated multiple times. This triggered a detailed inquiry, leading officials to trace the Aadhaar histories of those candidates.
Ahead of the written exam, several candidates had changed their Aadhaar photographs and fingerprints.
The “solvers gang”, which provided proxy candidates, took the exam in their place and cleared it. When the results were released, the original candidates got their Aadhaar updated again to reflect their real identity. Their role was limited to helping candidates clear only the written examination – the physical test had to be cleared by the actual candidate themselves.
A total of 9,67,118 applications were submitted for 7,411 posts in the recruitment exam. Of these, 6,52,057 candidates appeared for the written exam, which was held between August 12 and September 12 in 2023.
The results were declared on March 7, 2024, with around 58,000 candidates qualifying for the next stage. The physical tests were conducted between November 18 and November 20, and 7,411 candidates were selected.
Not An Isolated Case
According to the investigation, several Madhya Pradesh districts, including Gwalior, Morena, Sheopur, Shivpuri, Shahdol, and Alirajpur, were part of an organised web.
Aadhaar centres in Bhitarwar, Morena, and Sheopur were found to be at the heart of the fraud, where biometric data was manipulated.
A single solver reportedly appeared for exams on behalf of six different candidates, and five of them cleared.
The solvers, many from Bihar, charged anywhere between Rs 4 to Rs 5 lakh per student, with total deals often touching Rs 15 lakh.
Twelve people have so far been arrested, including solvers, fake candidates, and Aadhaar operators.
More than 100 others are under investigation.
Investigators believe that the roots of this racket may extend to Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Delhi – places already linked to past exam scandals in medical and railway recruitments.
An arrested person has confessed to having altered the Aadhaar details of nearly 100 candidates.
“Would Have Worn Uniform Today, Saluted Father”
A victim of the scam, whose father works as a peon in the Collector’s office, said he missed qualifying by half a mark.
“Had the biometric verification not been compromised, I would have worn the uniform today and saluted my father in the same office,” Arbaaz Ali, who lived in a small rented room in Bhopal, said while holding back his tears.
Another victim, Abhishek Chandel, who appeared for the exam in 2021 when the paper was leaked, also said he fell short by one mark.
“I gave seven years to this dream. But if someone else is giving the exam in my name, how will I get selected?” he said.
Shailendra Mishra, a candidate from Panna, who shares a room with his two brothers, said they have “sacrificed everything” for a government job. “But the system keeps breaking our hopes.”
