Two serving teachers among four held by Rajasthan SOG for impersonating exam candidates in RPSC, RSSB fraud
Original candidates paid impersonators Rs 5 to 7.5 lakh; SOG used custom software to crack 2022 exam scams.
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Jaipur: The Rajasthan Police Special Operations Group (SOG) has arrested three dummy candidates and a middleman accused of writing competitive examinations on behalf of original candidates in three separate cases involving the Rajasthan Public Service Commission (RPSC) and the Rajasthan Staff Selection Board (RSSB). Two of the arrested impersonators are currently serving as government school teachers.
Additional Director General of Police (SOG) Vishal Bansal said the cases were cracked using a custom software developed by the SOG and advanced analysis carried out by Deputy Inspector General Paris Deshmukh. Investigators found that in each case, the original candidate, who was reportedly weak academically, had paid a more proficient person large sums to take the exam in their place.
The first case relates to the RPSC Lecturer Hindi (School Education) competitive examination, 2022, held on October 15, 2022. Manohar Lal, son of Premaram, a resident of Jalore who currently works as a Second Grade teacher in a government higher secondary school, has been accused of writing the exam in place of original candidate Deram. The two reportedly met during coaching in Jodhpur and struck a deal worth around Rs 5 lakh, with the photograph on the admit card and the entries in the attendance sheet allegedly altered. Manohar Lal was arrested on Friday, May 1; original candidate Deram remains absconding. The case is registered as FIR 25/2024 at PS SOG Jaipur.
The second case, also linked to the same RPSC exam, involves Ashok Jani, son of Jagmal Ram, a resident of Phalodi. According to the SOG, original candidate Ramuram, an ex-serviceman, allegedly approached Ashok Jani after concluding that the lower cut-off in the ex-servicemen quota would make selection easier with a stronger candidate writing the paper. The deal was reportedly settled at around Rs 7.5 lakh. Ramuram has already been arrested and a chargesheet has been filed against him. Ashok Jani was arrested on Thursday, April 30. The matter is registered as FIR 24/2024 at PS SOG Jaipur.
The third case pertains to the Rajasthan Staff Selection Board’s Physical Education Teacher direct recruitment 2022 exam, held on September 25, 2023. Sunil, son of Ramlal, a resident of Jalore who is currently working as a Third Grade teacher, has been accused of impersonating original candidate Vimal Kumar Patidar. According to investigators, Vimal allegedly approached middleman Anil Vishnoi — who was preparing for competitive examinations in Jaipur — to find a substitute, and Anil in turn brought in Sunil. The total deal was reportedly Rs 6 lakh, with Rs 1.5 lakh paid in advance. Both Sunil and Anil Vishnoi were arrested on Friday, May 1. The case is registered as FIR 52/2024 at PS SOG Jaipur.
ADG Bansal said identifying the dummy candidates was particularly difficult because the documents in all three cases had been tampered with carefully. The accused have been booked under sections 419, 420, 467, 468, 471 and 120B of the Indian Penal Code, the Rajasthan Public Examinations Act, 2022, and the Information Technology Act, 2008. The investigation is being supervised by Additional Superintendent of Police, SOG Unit Kota, Tarun Somani.
The SOG said interrogation is continuing to identify other people involved and the wider network behind the scam. The agency reiterated that no compromise would be made on the integrity of recruitment examinations and that strict action against organised cheating rackets would continue.
