VSSC Cancels ISRO Recruitment Test After Cheating In Exam Surfaces

Earlier yesterday, two men from Haryana were arrested after being caught cheating red-handed during the ISRO Recruitment Test.

VSSC Cancels ISRO Recruitment Test (Representational Image)

The Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC) has cancelled the ISRO Recruitment Test 2023. The VSSC move comes following the arrest of two Haryana men who were caught cheating red-handed during the exam. Notably, the VSSC conducted the ISRO Recruitment Test 2023 for the posts of Technical Staff recently. The recruitment was exclusively held at exam centres in Kerala. However, two men at different exam centres were caught using unfair means during the examination by the Kerala police. The two arrested men were using unfair means to answer questions in the exam and were also impersonating actual candidates, a police official was reported as saying by PTI. 

“They are being questioned presently. A case under Sections 406 (criminal breach of trust), 420 (cheating) and various other provisions of the IPC and the Information Technology Act has been lodged against them. The two arrested persons will also be booked for impersonating the actual candidates," the officer was further reported as saying. 

As per the police, the arrested men were sending pictures of the question paper from button cameras and were sending them to someone elsewhere who was answering the questions through bluetooth devices in the ears of the candidates. 

Following the surfacing of the cheating incident, the Kerala police have launched a full-fledged investigation into the matter and also requested the VSSC to cancel the examination. Noteworthy is the fact that over 400 candidates who appeared for the recruitment exam hailed from a single state - Haryana, and there are speculations that a larger nexus of coaching centres might be involved in the cheating. 

Besides the two arrested, the Kerala police has also held four other people from the northern state into custody. The police have further said that they will also be sending a team to Haryana to cooperate with the state police in the probe. "We will get in touch with senior officers of Haryana police and the investigating team will go there as part of the probe," DCP Law and Order Ajith V was reported as saying.