New Delhi (Sputnik): In an incident that has sent India’s Union Public Service Commission (UPSC) in a tizzy, a high-ranking police officer was caught cheating during a competitive examination with the help of modern gadgets that could have gone undetected had an alert invigilator not caught him.
The UPSC is India’s nodal agency for conducting competitive examinations for various branches of public service including the Indian Administrative Services (IAS) that churns out the country’s topmost bureaucrats. Examinations conducted by the UPSC are closely guarded with the highest level of vigilance, and malpractice is extremely rare.
What could be worse in an exam than getting caught cheating red handed?
— Ishan B (@IHB30) 30 октября 2017 г.
Getting publicity about it on the news.https://t.co/fTC5LPAeVC
However, 29-year-old Safeer Karim, an officer of the prestigious Indian Police Services (IPS), who aspired to become a bureaucrat by cracking the IAS manage to smuggle in a cellphone, a Bluetooth-enabled miniature camera in a shirt button and wireless earpieces into the examination hall in Chennai. With the help of the gadgets, Karim’s wife and an accomplice were helping him with the answers remotely from another state, Andhra Pradesh.
The Ministry of Home Affairs which is the cadre-controlling authority for all IPS officials has said it has taken a note of the allegations and will take “exemplary action” against Karim if the charges are proved. He has now been placed under suspension with immediate effect, but will have a chance to explain his version of the case to the ministry before being sacked.
Interestingly, investigation officers told the media that Karim had previously cleared the IAS examination, but chose to join the police force. It is yet unclear why he chose to attempt the same examination again this year.
Karim is an assistant police superintendent in Tirunelveli district in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
