Bihar youth held for floating fake UP home guard exam papers

Lucknow: The UP STF on Saturday night arrested a Class XII passout for allegedly running an online fraud racket that duped aspirants by circulating fake question papers of the UP home guards recruitment examination. The exam was held recently.The accused, Nikhil Thakur, 27, was arrested from a library premises in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur following sustained surveillance and intelligence inputs.Nikhil, a native of Muzaffarpu, was wanted in a case registered at Lucknow’s Hussainganj police station under Sections of BNS, IT Act, and the UP Public Examinations (Prevention of Unfair Means) Ordinance.DSP, STF, Sudhanshu Shekhar, said Nikhil operated a well-organised digital racket along with an accomplice, Siddharth Mishra.“The duo created multiple Telegram channels using virtual numbers to avoid detection and began targeting candidates preparing for the home guards written examination held between Apr 25 and 27,” said the officer.Shekhar said the accused floated “leaked” and “100% confirmed” question papers on these channels to gain the trust of aspirants.“Once candidates engaged, they were asked to pay hefty sums through UPI IDs and QR codes in exchange for access to the purported papers or assured success in the exam,” he said.The accused exploited exam pressure and urgency. Many aspirants, fearing failure, transferred money believing the papers were genuine,” an STF officer said.Police seized two mobile phones from the accused, which are now being analysed for chat records, transaction details and links to other victims. Preliminary findings suggest that several candidates may have been cheated across multiple districts.The STF has launched a search for the co-accused and is expanding the probe to identify the full extent of the network. The accused is being brought to Lucknow for further legal proceedings.