The Navy Police in Lonavala city of Maharashtra arrested a man on Thursday for allegedly providing candidates for the Senior Secondary Recruits examination with chits of answer keys to questions. The exam is being conducted from August 28 to August 31 at INS Shivaji in Lonavala, The Times of India reported.
Seven candidates of the Senior Secondary Recruitment examination were caught with identical chits of answer keys on Tuesday. The chits were found during routine checks, The Indian Express reported. All the candidates reside in the villages surrounding Lonavala.
During interrogation, the candidates revealed that Prakash Kotkar, a resident of Nimblak village in Ahmednagar district, took between Rs 3 lakh and Rs 5 lakh from each of them, and provided answer keys to the exam questions in return.
A team of the Navy Police deployed at INS Shivaji led by Assistant Regulating Officer OP Singh, conducted a search operation overnight, and arrested Kotkar. Singh told The Times of India that the answer keys were useless because the questions quoted were not the same as those that appeared in the exam. The Navy Police have still continued the investigation.
The Military Intelligence unit of the Navy’s Southern Command and the Navy Analysis Unit contacted Kotkar through a dummy candidate. “Our candidate approached Prakash and promised him to pay Rs 7 lakh in lieu of answer keys,” an unidentified official said. “Consequently, Prakash was to collect the cash at Lonavala, but did not come.” The police then conducted a search and arrested him.
The Lonavala Police produced Kotkar in the Vadgaon Maval local court, which sent him to police custody till Friday evening.
Limited-time offer: Big stories, small price. Keep independent media alive. Become a Scroll member today!
Our journalism is for everyone. But you can get special privileges by buying an annual Scroll Membership. Sign up today!