For siblings Anu Suriya and Anuradha, it was the expensive-looking equipment that they were lugging that allegedly gave them away. The siblings were arrested Sunday in Chhattisgarh’s Bilaspur district after their alleged plan to cheat in a government examination was busted by a local auto rickshaw driver.
Anu Suriya, 26, and Anuradha, 23, from Jashpur district were arrested for attempting to cheat in a written exam for a deputy engineer’s post in the Public Works Department (PWD). The written exams were held by the Chhattisgarh Professional Examination Board (Vyapam) at a government school in Sarkanda area in Bilaspur district Sunday morning.
While Anu Suriya is an engineer by qualification and currently teaches at a private school, Anuradha has studied up to Class 12. The sisters had travelled to Bilaspur for the exam.
The plan was that Anu Suriya would scan the question paper using her smart phone and send it to her sister, who sat outside in an auto rickshaw. The younger sister would then allegedly search for the answers on Google and give it to her over the phone.
For this, the sisters were to allegedly use technology – including their own smartphones, a tablet, a pair of wireless mini earbuds and a wireless set – specially bought for the purpose.
“The younger sister was to search the answers on Google using a tablet computer and transmit the answers using a wireless set. Anu Suriya had an in-ear piece. They got this idea from the internet,” the official added.
The equipment collectively cost Rs 60,000 and were bought online, one official said.
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However, the plan allegedly went south when the auto driver, who had refused their ride before, grew suspicious and alerted the National Students’ Union of India, which promptly called the police.
A video clip that went viral on social media showed a woman seated in a rickshaw with a wireless set and tablet.
“Our general secretary Vikas Singh Thakur and secretary Mayank Gautam got a tip off and reached the spot where they made a video while they were in the process of cheating. We have submitted the video to the police based on which they registered an FIR,” Niraj Pandey, state president of NSUI, told The Indian Express.
The duo has been booked under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 318 (2) (cheating) and 112 (2) (petty organised crime). Nilesh Pandey, inspector in-charge of Sarkanda police station, said the siblings will be produced before a magistrate court, “where we will seek their custody for further probe”.