The Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (STF) has busted a major racket allegedly involved in rigging Staff Selection Commission (SSC) examinations by guaranteeing candidates a pass in exchange for nearly Rs 4 lakh per candidate. Seven accused, including the alleged mastermind of the operation, were arrested during a raid at an examination centre in Greater Noida, where officials recovered around Rs 50 lakh in cash, laptops, mobile phones, and several documents linked to the examinations.
According to the STF, the gang was manipulating online examinations conducted for recruitment to the Central Armed Police Fores (CAPF), Secretariat Security Force (SSF) Constable GD, and Assam Rifles Rifleman Examination-2026.
The accused allegedly used sophisticated technical methods to bypass the examination system and provide candidates with answers in real time during the test.
The arrests were made after the STF received intelligence inputs about organised cheating in SSC online examinations.
A covert investigation led officials to “Balaji Digital Zone,” an examination centre located in the Knowledge Park area of Greater Noida.
The STF conducted a raid on May 22 and apprehended seven accused identified as Pradeep Chauhan, Arun Kumar, Sandeep Bhati, Nishant Raghav, Amit Rana, Shakir Malik, and Vivek Kumar.
Investigators said the accused did not directly hack the SSC examination system.
Instead, they allegedly installed a proxy server by bypassing the company’s server at the examination centre. Through a screen-sharing viewer application, question papers were reportedly transmitted to solvers stationed outside the centre.
These solvers would then remotely solve the questions and relay correct answers to candidates appearing for the examination.
Police said Pradeep Chauhan had been running the racket for a long time and had set up the examination centre where SSC online examinations were conducted through the company Eduquity.
Arun Kumar allegedly handled the technical operations, including the installation and management of the proxy server system used to facilitate the cheating network.
The development comes amid heightened scrutiny over examination integrity across the country following the controversy surrounding the alleged NEET-UG 2026 paper leak.
The examination faced nationwide criticism after reports emerged that question papers had been circulated before the test, triggering protests by students and parents.
The controversy reignited concerns about organised cheating syndicates and vulnerabilities in large-scale recruitment and entrance examinations.
The STF is now probing the wider network linked to the SSC examination racket, including the involvement of technical experts, middlemen, and beneficiaries.
Officials are also expected to examine whether similar methods were used in other recruitment examinations conducted in recent years.
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Published On:
May 23, 2026 09:04 IST
