Solver gang fakes Aadhaar to hijack police constable exam in Madhya Pradesh

A sprawling recruitment scam has rocked Madhya Pradesh, exposing a sinister network that hijacked the 2023 police constable recruitment process using manipulated Aadhaar data and proxy candidates. What started as a routine biometric verification has now unraveled into one of the most audacious frauds in recent exam history.

The plot surfaced in October last year during the physical test round in Morena district, when a vigilant police officer noticed discrepancies in biometric data and photographs of some candidates — updated multiple times without plausible reason. This triggered an in-depth investigation, revealing how a gang of impersonators exploited Aadhaar systems to cheat the written examination phase.

Ahead of the exam, candidates got their Aadhaar photographs and fingerprints altered to match those of hired "solvers" — proxy test-takers who appeared in their place. Once results were out, the Aadhaar details were reverted to the original candidates, allowing them to proceed to the physical test undetected. The gang’s involvement ended there, leaving the actual applicants to clear the physical round on their own.

The scale was staggering. For 7,411 police constable posts, nearly 9.67 lakh applications were submitted. Over 6.5 lakh appeared for the written test held between August 12 and September 12, 2023. When results were declared in March 2024, some 58,000 qualified — but authorities now suspect many did so fraudulently.

Crackdown spreads across districts

Investigators have identified organized fraud networks operating across multiple districts — Gwalior, Morena, Sheopur, Shivpuri, Shahdol, and Alirajpur. Aadhaar enrollment centers in Bhitarwar, Morena, and Sheopur played a central role, where biometric data was illegally manipulated for a price.

A single solver is said to have appeared for exams on behalf of six different candidates — five of whom cleared. Hailing mostly from Bihar, these impersonators charged Rs 4–5 lakh per candidate, with some deals crossing Rs 15 lakh.

So far, 12 individuals — including solvers, dummy candidates, and Aadhaar operators — have been arrested. Over 100 others are under investigation, with roots of the scam believed to extend into Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, and Delhi — states long linked to exam paper leaks and recruitment scams in medical and railway sectors.

One arrested accused confessed to altering Aadhaar data for at least 100 candidates.

Lives and dreams derailed

Beyond the data manipulation and fraud trail lies a deeper, human tragedy — shattered aspirations of hardworking youth who played by the rules, only to be robbed by a rigged system.

“I missed the cutoff by half a mark,” said Arbaaz Ali, son of a peon in the Collector's office, tears clouding his eyes. “Had biometric verification not been compromised, I would have worn the uniform today and saluted my father.”

Abhishek Chandel, who took the exam in 2021 when the paper was leaked, fell short again in 2023 — this time by just one mark. “I’ve given seven years to this dream. But if someone else is writing the exam in my name, how do I stand a chance?”

In Panna, Shailendra Mishra, who shares a room with two brothers and spent years preparing, summed up the collective heartbreak: “We’ve sacrificed everything for this. But the system keeps breaking our hopes.”