Becoming an IAS officer is a dream for many but only few are able to convert this dream into reality. However, there are some candidates who don’t mind using unfair measures in order to pass the examinations. But what will you say if a police officer adopts unfair means to clear Union Public Service Commission Examinations?
IPS officer arrested for cheating:
Yes, you read it right! On Monday, police arrested a trainee IPS officer of Tamil Nadu-cadre when he was caught by the Intelligence Bureau officers as he was cheating in the Union Public Service Commission (Main) Examination. The incident took place at a test centre in Egmore, Chennai.
Devices used for the purpose of cheating:
The name of the officer is Safeer Karim and he was an assistant superintendent of police in Nanguneri, Tirunelveli. He used computers, laptop, iPad, cellphone, wireless earpieces and a miniature camera which was Bluetooth equipped and it was fitted in the button of a shirt. His examination centre was Presidency Girls Higher Secondary School.
How they did it:
The micro camera was connected to Google drive. It scanned the question paper and sent it to Karim’s wife who then dictated the answers which Karim listened through Bluetooth. If Karim had any difficulty in listening, he wrote it on paper and then Joicy spoke louder.
An investigating officer said,
“Karim’s wife, Joicy Joy, dictated the answers to him from Hyderabad.”
The Hyderabad police took Joicy into custody; she was a visiting faculty at La Excellence IAS -The Institute for Civil Services at Ashok Nagar Crossroads. P Rambabu, the director of the institute who was also a friend of Karim, has also been arrested. P Rambabu was the one who provided the hi-tech support to Karim and his wife.
An officer said,
“Karim wanted to join the IAS, so he took the UPSC exams again.”
His background:
Karim belongs from Aluva, Kerala, and he attained 112th rank in the second attempt. He was an electronics engineer as well as the owner of Karim’s IAS. His institute has branches in Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram and candidates of civil services used to get training in his institute.
He was under IB’s vigilance:
Karim was under the vigilance of IB as they doubted him of cheating in the first of five tests in UPSC on Saturday and they also kept a check on his wife. He was followed by four IB officers to his examination centre where he successfully deceived policemen who were checking candidates at the gates.
An officer said,
“Karim handed over his wallet and a cellphone to them from his trouser pockets, apologizing for forgetting to leave the handset in his car. But he had concealed another phone and wireless earpieces in his socks and a miniature camera in his shirt.”
Just 20 minutes after the start of the examination, IB officers searched Karim and his cellphone, camera and earpieces were seized by them.
The officer also told,
“Karim admitted during interrogation that he took photographs of the question paper and sent them to his wife, who relayed the answers to him.”
Legal action against him:
Karim has been booked under the relevant sections of IPC which also include 420 (cheating and dishonesty) and 120b (criminal conspiracy) and under some provisions of IT Act.
Karim was produced in front of magistrate who sent him to judicial custody. He may be dismissed from the IPS as he is still under the probation period. Karim’s friends told police that just recently, he had an accident due to which he failed in police fitness tests and he felt that his future will be safe only if he becomes an IAS. His friends also told that he was a topper in the CAT business school entrance exam; however, he chose to set up his institute in 2015.
Karim met Joicy when she took up teacher’s job in his institute and they got married in 2016.