The police arrested seven people involved in exam malpractice using Bluetooth devices at a college run by Mahanteshwar Vidyavardhak Sangh in Afzalpur of Kalaburagi district on Saturday, said Kalaburagi Superintendent of Police Adduru Srinivasulu. Two more accused are absconding.
Addressing a media conference at his office here on Sunday, Mr. Srinivasulu said that the police received definite information about the crime and arrested the culprits easily.
Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) conducted the examinations for filling vacancies in various State-owned boards and corporations.
“As we received the information about the crime, we were on the alert. We took two suspects into custody and they, during interrogation, disclosed the names of three candidates writing the examination using Bluetooth devices,” he said.
Akash Mantale from Bidar, SantoshYalagi from Jewargi and Babu Chand Sheikh from Sonna were the candidates writing the examination and Gururaj, Vijayakumar, Ganesh and Bapu Yalagi were illegally assisting the candidates through Bluetooth devices, Mr. Srinivasulu added.
The officer said that R.D. Patil, kingpin of the PSI recruitment scam, is suspected to be the kingpin in this incident also. It is also suspected that R.D. Patil supplied the Bluetooth devices for the crime through Asif Bhagvan from Tawavalaga.
“The involvement of more people in the scam cannot be ruled out. We have intensified investigation to uncover the complete details. If Asif Bhagvan and R.D. Patil are apprehended, we can shed more light on the scam and reach the bottom of it,” Mr. Srinivasulu said.
He said that the security was further tightened at the examination centres on Sunday and every candidate was thoroughly checked before being allowed into the examination hall.
“No malpractice was reported on Sunday. We deployed additional police personnel and tightened security,” he said.
₹25 lakh per post
As per sources in the Police Department, R.D. Patil had struck deals with candidates to ensure jobs in the State-owned boards and corporations against payment of around ₹25 lakh per post.
“R.D. Patil must have struck the deal through middlemen. The candidates must have paid around ₹5 lakh in advance. We have yet to get confirmed information,” a source in the Police Department said.
Akash Mantale, one of the three candidates arrested for exam malpractice, is a BE graduate working as a mechanical engineer in a private company in Bengaluru. He was trying to get a government job.
Santosh Yalagi, another candidate arrested for malpractice, is a teacher in a private school. He designated his friend Gururaj to assist him in writing answers using a Bluetooth device.
“The accused candidates who wore Bluetooth devices deliberately came late hoping that the police will not thoroughly check them before allowing them inside the examination hall as they were already late. But they utterly failed as their devices were detected with the help of metal detectors,” a police officer said later in the day.
