Meerut (UP), February 14 Special task forces from Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand, in a joint operation in Dehradun, arrested two active members of a gang allegedly involved in cheating in the Multi-Tasking Staff competitive examination conducted by the Staff Selection Commission (SSC), officials said on Saturday.
Brijesh Kumar Singh, Additional Superintendent of Police, Meerut unit of the UP STF, told PTI here that the arrested accused have been identified as Nitish Kumar, a resident of Deoria district (Uttar Pradesh), and Bhaskar Naithani, a resident of Dehradun (Uttarakhand).
He said the accused were apprehended on Friday during an operation in the Kotwali police station area of Dehradun district.
Preliminary investigations revealed that the gang was facilitating cheating through computer hacking at the Mahadev Digital Zone examination centre for the SSC MTS recruitment examination, conducted through an Eduquity company, officials said.
Singh shared that the accused allegedly provided improper assistance to candidates by creating remote access through local networking and proxy server setup. Police recovered four mobile phones, two laptops, and an internet router from them.
During a press conference, Inspector General of Police, Uttarakhand Special Task Force (STF), Nilesh Anand Bharne, said the joint party conducted the operation on Friday at the Mahadev Digital Zone examination centre set up at MKP Inter College, where the SSC Group C recruitment exam was being conducted, based on confidential information.
He said that the examination centre was sealed after the equipment allegedly used for cheating was seized.
Bharne stated that when the examination centre was raided, a 24x24-inch underground chamber (pit) was found in a corner of the server room near the examination lab, in which two laptops with routers were found being operated remotely in an automated state.
He stated that these laptops were being used to assist in solving question papers in the online examination.
Bharne stated that the STF teams seized and sealed the entire system, including the laptops and routers, and arrested two accused.
He stated that four mobile phones, chargers, cables, and other equipment were also recovered from the accused.
Bharne stated that a case has been registered against the accused under the Uttarakhand Competitive Examination (Measures for Prevention and Control of Unfair Means in Recruitment) Act, 2023, sections 318(2), 61, 111(3)(4) of the Indian Penal Code, and section 66 of the Information Technology Act.
During interrogation, the accused told that Rs 10 lakh was demanded from each candidate by luring them with the promise of passing the examination and their question paper was solved by taking remote access of their computer using the latest technology.
During interrogation, information about the associates of the accused was also obtained, to search for whom police teams are conducting raids and searches at possible places.
He said, "This is likely the first such case in the country where a complete system was installed underground in the server room of the examination centre and question papers were solved remotely using IP addresses from other locations. It appeared as if the candidate was solving the question paper, but the answers were obtained from elsewhere and submitted."
