2 booked for 'cheating' in IIT Goa recruitment exam after CISF catches them with Bluetooth devices at airport

The local police booked two persons on charges of examination malpractice related to employee recruitment by IIT Goa after they were allegedly caught by CISF personnel at the Dabolim airport with Bluetooth earpieces and "admitted" that they used them for cheating, an officer of the central security force said on Sunday.

One of the two men, travelling to Delhi on an Air India Express flight, was on Saturday noon undergoing security checks when the CISF screener on duty noticed "suspicious" objects in the hand baggage of the passenger and referred it for a physical check.

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The search led to the recovery of three electronic devices, two SIM cards and three Bluetooth earpieces of the kind used for cheating in competitive examinations, the officer said.

He claimed that the passenger "admitted" that the devices were meant for cheating in examinations and also informed the security personnel that an associate travelling with him had already boarded the same flight.

The officer added that the second passenger was offloaded with the help of the airline staff and two Bluetooth earpieces, a SIM card and an admit card for the post of Administrative Assistant in the IIT Goa non-teaching staff recruitment examination (held on October 10) were recovered from his hand baggage.

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The second passenger also "admitted" that the Bluetooth device was meant for use in that examination, according to the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) officer.

The two persons were put under a joint interrogation by intelligence and security agencies and were subsequently handed over to the Dabolim airport police station. As the exam centre fell under the Ponda police station limits, the two were booked by the police in the area, the officer said.

He added that the first passenger told the CISF that he appeared in the exam in place of another candidate. Aadhaar cards of two other individuals, which he had allegedly thrown away in the security hold area of the Dabolim airport, were also recovered, he said.

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"The alertness of the screening personnel led to the detection of the devices that helped in stopping the two passengers from leaving Goa with material linked to the alleged examination malpractice," the officer said.