Noida, Dec 16 (PTI) The Noida police on Thursday claimed to have arrested five members of a gang involved in impersonating candidates in a Staff Selection Commission (SSC) exam for recruitment in paramilitary forces.

Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (Noida) Ranvijay Singh said the gang had impersonated a candidate in Wednesday's SSC (GD Constable) exam held at a centre in Sector 62 here under Sector 58 police station limits.

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"The gang charged Rs 6 lakh to Rs 7 lakh from candidates for appearing in exams on their behalf and was involved in over a dozen such cases," Singh told reporters.

Those arrested have been identified as Lalit Kumar, Anil Kumar, Yashveer Singh, Rohit Kumar and Rakesh Kumar, all residents of Aligarh, he said, adding the mastermind of the gang has also been recognised but is absconding.

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Primary investigation revealed that of those arrested, Yashveer is the one who worked as a solver, appearing on behalf of the actual candidates in exams using forged documents. Lalit and Anil worked as mediators between the gang and the candidates, Rohit forged documents like admit cards and Rakesh was incharge of the monetary transactions, the officer said.

The police have seized 67 fake admit cards of various exams, several incriminating phone chats and Rs 12,000 cash from the possession of the accused. Two cars have also been impounded, the police said.

Singh said several monetary transactions, including some originating in foreign countries like Singapore and the UAE, involving the gang have also been traced.

The gang provided solvers for competitive exams like SSC GD, Allahabad High Court Recruitment Exam, Indian Coast Guard, HSSC, Central Airmen Selection Board, UPSESSB TGT exam, etc., the police said.

"The gang had been active in several states including Delhi, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh and its members had been appearing for competitive exams for the past three years. They forged admit cards of the candidates and a solver from the gang appeared in place of the actual candidates," Singh said.

An FIR has been lodged at the Sector 58 police station and further investigation is underway. Teams have been formed to track down the absconding mastermind of the gang, the officer said.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)