HYDERABAD: Hyderabad police have booked four juveniles for attempting to cheat their way into a prestigious engineering institute by utilising smartphones during the JEE (Advanced) 2023 held on Sunday. According to the police, the mastermind is a top scorer in both the Andhra Pradesh Class 10 and 12 board exams who collaborated with his three friends in a bid to secure seats in the same institute.
Although all four juveniles resorted to hiding smartphones inside their shoes or undergarments, only one was initially caught at the examination centre. His confession led to the police zeroing in on his three friends. Cases have been registered in Market, Nacharam, LB Nagar, and Malkajgiri police stations against them under the provisions of the Telangana Public Examinations (Prevention of Malpractices and Unfair Means) Act, 1997, and the IPC.
According to the police, the four students, considered juveniles in conflict with the law, were assigned to separate examination centres across the city. Using smartphones, they shared answers to the JEE question paper among themselves.
Police said that the first student was caught red-handed by an invigilator while attempting to use a smartphone at an examination centre in Dilsukhnagar. The investigation unveiled a plot orchestrated by his accomplice, who is not only a top performer in both Class 10 and 12 but was also appearing for the exam at the SVIT centre in Secunderabad. All four boys were roommates in a hostel in Gachibowli.
K Mamatha, sub-inspector with Market police station, gave details: “The juvenile who masterminded it created a WhatsApp group and shared his responses by capturing a photo of the computer screen. The remaining three boys then accessed the solutions remotely.” Notices under Section 41 of the CrPC have been served to the guardians of the juveniles, who are expected to be presented before the District Probation Office.
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