Rajasthan police arrests teacher for impersonating candidates in recruitment exams

Jaipur: The Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan police Wednesday arrested a govt school teacher for allegedly impersonating candidates in multiple public employment recruitment examinations in the state. The accused, Ummed Singh, is a resident of Rakhna village in Rohat tehsil of Pali district. Officials apprehended him while he was reporting to the District Education Officer (DEO) office in Sirohi district.

Additional Director General (SOG) VK Singh told TOI Ummed Singh was a Grade II teacher. According to Singh, the accused went into hiding when his name surfaced in the investigation, fearing that he could be expelled from govt services. He visited the DEO office to mark his attendance and was arrested. Singh added that the accused also cleared the SI exam in 2021 but did not join the training.

Ummed was placed under suspension and was accused of appearing as a proxy candidate in a series of high-profile exams. As per the SOG, he took part as a dummy candidate in the Sub-Inspector Recruitment Exams of 2018 and 2021, the Second Grade Teacher Exam of 2022, the First Grade Hindi Lecturer Exams of 2020 and 2022, the Physical Education Teacher Recruitment Exam of 2022, and the REET Level II Exam of 2022.

The investigation revealed that he charged several lakhs to appear in govt exams as a proxy candidate, assuring guaranteed results against hefty sums of money. Sources said they were able to find his involvement in seven exams, but it is likely that he sat in other exams as well.

SOG officials stated that he is being brought to Jaipur for further interrogation. An official described his arrest as a major breakthrough in ongoing efforts to tackle organised exam fraud in the state because the accused operated as a freelance proxy candidate for govt job aspirants without any fear of law. The official credited SOG Jodhpur unit constable Ajay Singh with playing a key role in arresting the accused.