Delhi Police Use Biometrics to Catch Recruitment Exam Fraudsters

Delhi Police have discovered that as many as 11 candidates selected from a 2018 multi-tasking staff (MTS) recruitment drive had imposters take a written test for them.

According to reporting by The Indian Express, the fraudsters were uncovered following a request by the Delhi Police for biometric fingerprint verification, which failed to match the biometric data captured from the individuals who took the written test several months earlier.

Initially launched by the Delhi Police in 2017, the recruitment process attracted more than 7,000 applicants to fill 707 vacancies in various fields including cooks, water carriers, cobblers, washermen, tailors, gardeners, barbers, and carpenters.

A year after it was launched, several thousand people showed up for the written test portion of the process.

A complaint was filed on behalf of Delhi Police Commissioner Balaji Srivastava by Inspector of Recruitment Cell, Deepak Chandra. “In his complaint, he said the result of the MTS exam was declared on February 28, 2020, and 11 candidates were called to collect offer letters to join the basic training course from January 21 this year,” explained a senior police officer in the Northwest district. “However, their fingerprints did not match those taken during the written exam. They were asked to come on April 9 to test their fingerprints.”

Officials are also reported to have contacted experts at an unnamed biometric firm in East Delhi who were able to confirm that the fingerprints did not match.

Using biometrics to try and prevent fraudsters from having someone take an exam in their place is not an uncommon occurrence in the country. Last year TECH5 and Innovatiview teamed up on an initiative to discourage cheating on exams in India that sought to have students register their biometric data before taking a test, and then verify it following the tests’ completion.

Source: The Indian Express

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July 28, 2021 — by Tony Bitzionis