LUCKNOW: In an extensive crackdown, Uttar Pradesh police arrested 33 persons for allegedly attempting to rig Uttar Pradesh Teacher Eligibility Test (UPTET) on Sunday. The arrests were made by police teams from different districts and Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UP STF).
While as many as 17 persons were arrested from Prayagraj, five from Ambedkarnagar, three from Meerut, one each were held from Kannauj, Amethi, Gonda, Pratapgarh, Mathura, Moradabad, Jaunpur and Sultanpur.
Additional Director General of police, law and order, Prashant Kumar, said that police were keeping a vigil on the conduct of the TET examination since Saturday night and based on specific inputs arrests were made from different places.
Kumar said that the majority of arrested persons were solvers, trying to take the exam in the place of original candidates.
Two candidates, one each from Amethi, Kannauj, were found to be using ‘bluetooth’ devices to cheat in the examination.
"In Gonda, police held one youth who was trying to spread misinformation about the TET examination on social media," said the officer. Police also recovered a huge cache of admit cards, Rs 70,000 cash and a few Aadhaar cards.
ADG also said that all those arrested belonged to different gangs spread across the state. "The gang leaders used to take money and assure selection to the candidates," he said.
In Ambedkar Nagar, the arrested person Jhinku Prajapati, is said to be the mastermind of a gang who assured selection of candidates at the cost of Rs 3 lakh.
"Candidates had paid Jhinku Rs1 lakh advance, and rest were to be given after the selection," said SP, Ambedkar Nagar, Alok Priyadarshi.
