Man arrested for appearing as ‘dummy’ in Mumbai Police recruitment exam

Representative image

The Bhoiwada Police on Tuesday arrested a trainer employed at a coaching institute in Maharashtra's Beed district for appearing for the Mumbai Police recruitment exam as a dummy candidate.

The accused, Ganesh Pawar (25), allegedly scored 49 marks out of 50 during the ground test for at least three candidates. The police have arrested 11 people including Pawar, and have registered eight cases so far.

"Pawar took Rs 3 lakh per candidate who didn't believe they could score well in the ground test," a police officer told mid-day.

According to police, Pawar had set up a coaching institute in Beed in partnership with another person named Ravi Shelke, who died in December last year. Pawar, who is a trainer, teaches aspirants how to run in the ground test and how to get good marks.

Pawar's name came in the first case registered while verifying the selected candidates, and the police have been on the lookout for him ever since. During the investigation, it was also found that Pawar has tests as a dummy candidate for a total of three candidates.

"Candidates who scored 40-42 marks out of 50 in the written test and were unsure of how to score well in the ground test, used dummy candidates. The three candidates for whom Pawar had appeared for the test, scored 49 out of 50," said police.

"We have arrested Pawar who had appeared for at least three candidates. We are also investigating whether Pawar ever participated in police recruitment as a dummy candidate before," Jitendra Pawar, senior police inspector of Bhoiwada police told mid-day.

"Search for few other accused is still underway," Pawar added.

So far, 10 people have been arrested in this case. Pawar's arrest is the 11th.