IPS probationer caught cheating in UPSC exam, arrested

It was not the scene directly from the film ‘Munnabhai MBBS’ of Sanjay Dutt, but a hard reality that happened in case of a young IPS officer.

According to reports, this officer on probation was writing his UPSC examinations in the hope of clearing the IAS this time. But the destiny had willed otherwise. He was caught cheating using a Bluetooth device to get answers for the questions.

Karim is the name of this officer and he belonged to Kerala. He was allotted Tamil Nadu cadre after he first cleared the UPSC examination.

His wife is a visiting faculty at an IAS coaching centre and it was she who was helping him from Hyderabad. Karim would send the photos of question papers to her through WhatsApp and she would call him on phone to give the answers.

Police arrested Karim on Saturday, following a tip-off from the Intelligence Bureau (IB).

A mobile phone, a bluetooth device, and wireless earplug speakers were seized from Karim, Assistant Superintendent of Police (Trainee), barely minutes before he was to begin writing the Civil Services mains exam conducted by the UPSC.

Soon after the candidates assembled in the hall at the Presidency Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Egmore, a special team of the Chennai Police searched each candidate. Karim was found to be in possession of the electronic devices, concealed in the folds of his clothes.

His wife Joy was detained by the police in Hyderabad on Monday. Along with her, a teacher of La Excellency Coaching Institute at Ashoknagar crossroads, Rambabu was also detained.

“Cases under Section 420 and 120 (B) have been registered against the duo. We have also invoked the provisions under the Information Technology Act,” a senior police official said.