Jaipur, Dec 4 : The Special Operations Group (SOG) of Rajasthan has intensified its crackdown on fraudsters undermining the integrity of recruitment examinations in the state.

Additional Director General of Police (SOG) Vishal Bansal informed that in the Gram Sevak Recruitment Exam-2016 dummy candidate case, the main accused, Ladu Ram Vishnoi, who secured a government job through fraudulent means and carried a reward of Rs 10,000, has been arrested.

The case surfaced after the SOG received a complaint alleging that candidate Ladu Ram Vishnoi had not appeared for the 2016 Gram Sevak exam himself. Instead, he allegedly used a dummy candidate to write the examination on his behalf.

Preliminary investigation confirmed these allegations, prompting the SOG to register a case and begin a detailed inquiry. During the investigation, the SOG found that Ladu Ram had allegedly hired Gopal Vishnoi, son of Jagdish Vishnoi, a resident of Barmer, to impersonate him in the exam.

Shockingly, the dummy candidate, Gopal Vishnoi, was himself employed as a second-grade teacher in Jodhpur. He was arrested earlier in the case on December 19, 2024.

Since the registration of the case, Ladu Ram had been absconding and frequently changing his location to evade arrest.

As a result, the SOG announced a Rs 10,000 reward for information leading to his capture. Using technical surveillance, intelligence inputs, and continuous monitoring, the SOG finally apprehended him on December 1.

The arrested accused hails from Gadra Nedinadi, Tehsil Dhorimanna, District Barmer.

The SOG is now expanding the scope of the investigation to uncover the entire network behind the fraudulent recruitment.

ADG Vishal Bansal stated that the key focus areas include identifying others involved in facilitating the impersonation, determining whether more candidates used similar tactics, and establishing whether an organised gang was operating the racket.

The SOG reiterated its commitment to eliminating fraud from the state's merit-based selection processes.

/IANS