Last year too 150 were arrested for impersonating in the constable exam.

Barely a week after >visuals of mass copying in the Bihar secondary school board examination drew wide attention and ridicule for the State government, comes another shocker — over 1,000 people were arrested for impersonation in the police constable recruitment examination. The government had advertised for recruitment to 11,783 posts of constables for 2014-15, of which 35 per cent were reserved for women candidates.

The written test was conducted by the Bihar Central Selection Board for Constables. About 52,000 were selected for the PFT (physical fitness test) and verification of documents, which were held from March 16 to 28 at the Patliputra Sports Complex, Kankarbagh in Patna.

“It was during the verification of documents that 1,068 candidates were found to be impersonating. They were arrested and sent to jail,” a senior police official engaged in the recruitment process told The Hindu. He said such a large number had never been arrested before for impersonating in the constable examination in the State.

The maximum of 200 impersonators were identified on Saturday, the last day of the physical fitness and screening test. “Their fake identity was detected when they produced fake documents,” said the police official.

Last year too 150 were arrested for impersonating in the constable exam. Police headquarters sources, based on preliminary investigation, said those arrested were hired by the aspirants for taking the physical test on their behalf. “In many cases, the candidates had manipulated photos on the form and the documents. A close and intense scrutiny of them finally led to the revelation,” said the police official.