4 impersonators caught during TGT examination in Lucknow; cases registered under public examination anti-cheating law

LUCKNOW: Tight security measures and biometric verification during the Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT) examination in Lucknow led to the detection of four alleged impersonators who were appearing in place of registered candidates at different examination centres across the city on Tuesday.Police have registered separate FIRs in all four cases under relevant provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Uttar Pradesh Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Ordinance, 2024.In the first case, an impersonator was detected at Bappa Shri Narayan Vocational Girls Inter College, Charbagh, examination centre number 4709, under the jurisdiction of Hussainganj police station.Following the examination, officials conducted Aadhaar verification of candidate Vijay Pratap Singh. During scrutiny, authorities found that the Aadhaar number and biometric details did not match the records submitted during the examination application process. Further investigation revealed that the person who had actually appeared for the examination was allegedly Rajesh Pratap Singh (49), a resident of Jaunpur district.The suspect was handed over to police by the examination authorities, following which a case was registered at Hussainganj police station.In the second case, examination officials at Arya Kanya Pathshala Inter College, Badshahnagar, under Mahanagar police station limits, detected another impersonator after post-examination biometric verification.Authorities found that the fingerprints and facial recognition data of the person who appeared for the examination did not match those of registered candidate Amarjeet Singh. Investigation identified the individual as Mantesh Singh (30), a resident of Azamgarh district, who was allegedly taking the examination on behalf of the original candidate.Police registered a case at Mahanagar police station after receiving a complaint from the examination centre administration.A third impersonation case surfaced during the second shift of the TGT examination at DAV Degree College, Arya Nagar, under Naka Hindola police station.A joint inspection conducted by Static Magistrate Paras Nath Pal, Regional Food Officer, and college principal Rajiv Kumar Tripathi found that a candidate was appearing in place of another examinee.The suspect was identified as Rang Bahadur, a resident of Prayagraj district. According to officials, he was allegedly taking the examination in place of Avadh Raj Yadav, the actual candidate from Prayagraj.An FIR was subsequently lodged at Naka Hindola police station.In the fourth case, officials at Vidyant Hindu Inter College, Gautam Buddha Marg, Aminabad, detected another candidate substitute during verification.A joint inquiry conducted by Centre superintendent and principal Pawan Kumar Singh revealed that Ram Manuj (35), a resident of Ambedkar Nagar district, was allegedly appearing in the examination on behalf of Jitendra Singh Yadav.The accused was immediately handed over to police, and a case was registered at Aminabad police station.JCP, Law and Order, Babloo Kumar, said that all four accused have been booked under various sections of the BNS relating to cheating, impersonation, forgery and fraud, along with provisions of the Uttar Pradesh Public Examination (Prevention of Unfair Means) Ordinance, 2024, enacted to curb examination-related malpractice.