An individual who impersonated a candidate in the Uttar Pradesh Education Service Selection Commission (UPESSC) Trained Graduate Teacher (TGT) exam was caught red-handed during biometric and document verification conducted following the commencement of the exam.
The accused is identified as Pramod Kumar, a resident of Azamgarh district. He attended the examination instead of Vimal Kumar, belonging to the Farrukhabad district.
The incident came to light when discrepancies were detected during verification at the exam centre. City Magistrate RK Verma said that a team comprising the static magistrate and college authorities became suspicious of the candidate's behaviour during routine verification.
A detailed examination of his Aadhaar card, admit card and biometric details revealed that he was impersonating another candidate.
"The accused was immediately detained and handed over to the police for further investigation," Verma said.
During questioning, Pramod allegedly confessed that he had struck a deal worth Rs 1.5 lakh with Vimal Kumar to appear in the examination on his behalf.
He told investigators that he had already received an advance payment and was to be paid the remaining amount after successfully clearing the examination.
Police have taken the accused into custody and initiated legal proceedings.
Efforts are also underway to trace and apprehend the actual candidate, officials said.
The TGT examination commenced across Bareilly district on June 3.
Authorities had made arrangements for 32,365 candidates at 20 examination centres.
Stringent security measures, including CCTV surveillance and deployment of static magistrates, were put in place to ensure a fair and transparent conduct of the examination.
With inputs from PTI