Man arrested for impersonating candidate during UP service selection exam

Shahjahanpur (UP), Sep 9 (PTI) A graduate from Bihar was arrested here on Tuesday for acting as a "solver" (a person impersonating an exam candidate) for two PET aspirants at two different centres in Uttar Pradesh, police said.

The accused has been identified as Vivek Mandal and is a resident of Bihar's Nawada district. He was earlier under detention after one of the centres had caught him.

According to police, Mandal first appeared in Hardoi on Saturday and successfully took the Preliminary Eligibility Test (PET) on behalf of Shyam Krishna, a resident of Azamgarh, in exchange for money.

The PET is conducted by the Uttar Pradesh Subordinate Services Selection Commission to fill Group C posts in the state government.

On Sunday, he again attempted to take the test; this time in Shahjahanpur for Nitish Kumar. However, his luck ran out, as the biometric (thumb impression) here matched with the Azamgarh centre.

The authorities at the Shahjahanpur centre then handed him to the police on Sunday, Superintendent of Police (SP) Rajesh Dwivedi said.

During interrogation, Mandal told police that he is a graduate, and he needed money for his sister's marriage. He revealed that he had taken Rs 20,000 per student to appear in the exam on their behalf.

A case has been registered against the accused, and he has been arrested, the SP said, adding that police teams have been sent to Azamgarh and Bihar for further investigation.

PTI COR NAV AMJ AMJ