Overview

• Investigators say the gang used tools including Remini, Fotor, Mixr Grindr and ChatGPT to modify admit-card images so impostors resembled genuine candidates by about 70%.
• The operation came to light on October 5 when an impersonator was caught at a Lucknow test centre, leading to arrests across the network.
• Those held include alleged mastermind Anand Kumar, an assistant manager at Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank, and a UCO Bank Scale-I officer, with others acting as proxies and middlemen across UP, Bihar and Uttarakhand.
• Police seized 16 mobile phones, nine Aadhaar cards, seven pen drives, a laptop, a tablet, photographs, fake IDs and about Rs 1.53 lakh, and digital forensics are underway.
• Officials say candidates were charged up to Rs 5.2 lakh for staged participation and job facilitation, and the accused face IPC charges and the Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Act, 2024, as teams pursue additional suspects.