Gurgaon: Some wanted to prove their love. Some did it for the sake of familial duties. A few needed the money. The biggest motivation for exam cheating wasn’t cash, but personal relationships among the 34 caught so far in Nuh for appearing in the Class X Haryana boards on behalf of the actual examinee.
Two of them – convinced everything is fair in love – agreed to take the exam on behalf of their girlfriends’ brothers to prove they had true feelings, not an ephemeral kind of attraction but one that ran deep enough to not shy away from taking a major risk.
Most of the arrested dummies were family members or friends of examinees who thought they would do a rescue job for the sake of their academically compromised relatives. Six of those apprehended were minors.
How exam frauds still find a way despite tight security & checks
The ones who took money could be part of an organised gang, police suspect.
On Monday, the English paper for the 10th board was conducted with approximately 2,93,000 students appearing for it across the state. The exam took place from 12.30pm to 3.30pm, but during this time, 79 students were caught cheating from different parts of the state. At some centres, police had to be called.
At Mount Aravali Public School in Nuh, 34 dummy examinees were caught. Police said they reached the centre after receiving information about cheating. When they asked in the exam hall if anyone was sitting for someone else, the dummy candidates stood up, realising their game was up.
“All of them had passed the 12th grade and came to take the 10th grade exam,” a police officer from Nuh said.
Before this, the English paper for the 12th grade on Feb 27 and the maths paper for the 10th grade on Feb 28 had leaked. Following an uproar, chief minister Nayab Singh Saini suspended 32 officials, including four DSPs and 25 police personnel, on March 1. The responsibility for the exams has been handed over to the DC and SP.
Nuh has 59 centres for state board examinations. Mount Aravalli School is one of the centres. Nearly 200 students were appearing for the board exam at Mount Aravalli School on Monday. Thirty-four were found to be impersonating others. Three youths had taken Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000 per paper to impersonate and write the exam.
In Baroda, Sonipat, some youths were found climbing school walls and throwing cheat sheets. As soon as a video went viral, seven people were arrested.
Security for the board exams is tight with instances of such malpractices reported every year. But frauds have still found a way. In Jhajjar, police officers were stationed on rooftops to prevent anyone from throwing cheat sheets from above. Students were even made to remove their shoes before entering classrooms. Last time, the maths paper was leaked from this centre, so the administration didn’t want to take any chances this time.
In Nuh, police even resorted to using batons to prevent cheating. People within a 500-metre radius of the exam centres were chased away. Barbed wires were installed on walls to prevent anyone from throwing cheat sheets inside.
A total of 1,000 police officers were deployed across Nuh for board exam security. The govt has ordered that there will be no classes after 10.30am in schools where board exams are being held and the schools to be vacated before the exams.
Previously, staffers used to stay in schools during exams, but now no one is allowed.
To prevent cheating, 219 flying squads have been formed and observers have been appointed at every sensitive exam centre. These observers have been given the power to take immediate action on the spot.