JOIN USAs many as 500 aspirants for teachers’ posts were in for a rude shock when they went to the exam centre in Jayanagar for a national-level entrance test. It did not take much time for them to realise that unknown men had created a fake academic programme, had launched a fake examination authority and announced the fake test.
The fraudsters had announced six months ago that the New Delhi-based National-Level Professional Testing Bureau was conducting the test for teacher aspirants.
They had issued advertisements in newspapers and posted application forms on their website, police said.
They had collected Rs 1,650 from each candidate and had issued hall tickets. They had announced that the test would be held on May 15 at 10 am and 2 pm at MES School on 10th cross, Jayanagar 4th Block. “They paid Rs 40,000 which included Rs 20,000 honorarium for invigilators and Rs 20,000 to the management for renting the school building. They sent OMR sheets through a private courier agency to the school. They had promised that the question papers would be sent online before 10 am,” DCP (South) B S Lokesh Kumar told Deccan Herald.
About 500 students arrived at the centre. But, the management had not even marked registration numbers on the desks and there was no sign of the online question paper even after 10 am. Soon, the situation turned chaotic.
“The organisers have collected over Rs 15 crore and duped several candidates in Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Kerala and Tamil Nadu,” said Bhanuprakash, one of the candidates. Another 500 candidates were expected for the afternoon test.
School bookedThe school management did not bother to verify authenticity of the organisers. Hence, the police booked a case under Section 420 (cheating) of the IPC and under provisions of IT Act against the school management also, besides the unidentified organisers, the DCP said.