Mumbai Crime: 4 Haryana Candidates Sent To Judicial Custody Over Alleged Cheating Attempt Using Modified Devices In Exam

Mumbai, August 15, 2026 - Four Haryana-based candidates were ordered to judicial custody on Friday, following a five-day police remand over purported cheating during a non-teaching staff exam at Central Sanskrit University. The August 9 examination, conducted at Kendriya Vidyalaya in IIT-Powai, was for Group D posts, including guards and peons.

Police recovered seven modified mobile devices from the suspects - Devendra Singh, Bhoop Singh, Ravi Singh and Ravindra Singh. These gadgets, each lacking screens, keyboards or casings, featured circuit boards with SIM slots and minute wired batteries. They could be concealed within clothing, while a nano Bluetooth earbud inserted deep into the ear canal remained undetectable.

In one instance, doctors had to extract a micro Bluetooth device stuck in an accused's ear. A shirt-button-sized micro-camera was also recovered, able to capture or stream images of the question paper to an external accomplice. Notably, these devices lacked vibrating motors or speakers. Police suspect a wider network given that invigilators noticed one candidate exhibiting odd body movements while attempting to connect because of jamming devices.

Following the arrests, three unidentified individuals were spotted abandoning similar devices outside the examination hall. Deputy Commissioner of Police Datta Nalawade stated that investigators are tracking down the suppliers and their possible extensive network. All four accused were subsequently sent to jail for 14 days.