Mumbai: As many as 60 candidates, who applied for jobs in Maharashtra Housing and Area Development Authority (MHADA) have been booked after the housing authority complained against them for indulging in malpractices.
In its complaint, MHADA said that they conducted an internal inquiry and found that at least 31 applicants sent dummy candidates to appear in the written examination on their behalf, whereas 29 others used electronic devices and other cheating methods during the exam.
On Wednesday, administrative officer Ashish Vaidya, 45, filed the police complaint on behalf of the authority.
MHADA had deferred their recruitment for the year 2021 due to the Covid-19 pandemic and conducted the examination earlier this year for filling up 565 posts in 14 technical and non-technical categories. The examination was conducted through Tata Consultancy Services.
TCS examined 106 centres across the state between January 31, 2022, to February 9, 2022, where candidates answered the online examination. When the housing board caught some candidates cheating in the exams, it filed nine FIRs against those candidates in different districts.
These candidates were found violating examination rules and using cheating methods to clear the examination.
After the examination 1,633 candidates were found to be qualified for the 565 posts and TCS was asked to make a preliminary credential check of these candidates.
After scrutiny of the log details of the candidates and their photos (captured at the examination centre as the biometric facility was stopped due to Covid-19, TCS prepared a list of 61 suspicious candidates and submitted a summary report to MHADA, said the police complaint.
One candidate’s name was removed from the list as it was disclosed that she had by mistake uploaded a photo of her Aadhar card instead of her photo.
As per the police complaint, the housing board formed a short inquiry team that scrutinised the CCTV footage of the centres, log details report, exam hall entry passes and other documents. This team also briefly inquired about the suspicious candidates and prepared a detailed report.
The inquiry revealed that some of the 60 candidates had sent dummies to appear for the examination. Besides, several candidates were seen going to the washroom 3-4 times during the exam. These candidates solved 20-25 questions in the first hour of the exam and later they surprisingly solved 100-150 questions in the second hour, the complainant stated in the FIR.
“We are going through the complaint and supportive evidence, documents, submitted by the housing board and will soon call accused candidates for questioning,” said a police officer from Kherwadi police station.