'Solver gang, Aadhaar tampering: Huge scam exposed in MP police recruitment

Bhopal: Authorities in Madhya Pradesh have discovered a huge scam in the state’s police constable recruitment exam in 2023, revealing that a gang used proxy candidates.

During the physical test in Morena district in October last year, an officer found biometric data and photographs of some candidates to have been updated multiple times, NDTV reported.

In the subsequent detailed investigation officials studied the Aadhaar histories of the candidates, revealing that many of them changed their Aadhaar photographs and fingerprints ahead of the written exam.

The gang is learnt to have used proxy candidates to take the exam for original candidates.

When the results came out, the original candidates again had their Aadhaar updated to confirm their identity.

The proxies were only able to help the original candidates through the written exam, leaving them to clear the physical test on their own.

The exam held between August 12 and September 12 in 2023, a total of 9,67,118 candidates applied for 7,411 posts, with 6,52,057 candidates appearing for the written exam.

The results on March 7, 2024 listed 58,000 candidates as qualified for physical tests scheduled between November 18 and November 20, thus selecting 7,411 candidates.

Several districts in the state including Gwalior, Morena, Sheopur, Shivpuri, Shahdol, and Alirajpur are part of the organsed network with Aadhaar centres in Bhitarwar, Morena, and Sheopur having involved in manipulation of biometric data.

One man was found to have appeared for six different candidates, thus clearing five of them.

The proxies, mainly from Bihar, charged between Rs 4 to Rs 5 lakh per student with total deal often reaching what a report said Rs 15 lakh.

While more than hundred others are being probed, police have arrested twelve people including solvers, fake candidates, and Aadhaar operators.

The network according to officials are spread to states including Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Delhi.