Asst bank manager ran solvers’ gang for 5 years: Police

He recruited banking staff in the gang to exploit their understanding of the recruitment exam system; their roles were divided – from filling forms to guiding the candidates through the final interview, says DCP

LUCKNOW The 10 arrested members of the solver gang busted on Tuesday, including its alleged mastermind – a serving assistant bank manager – had been facilitating cheating in competitive banking exams, including the IBPS clerk exam, for the past five years, said police.

Investigations revealed that the gang charged ₹5.2 lakh per candidate to ensure selection. (File Photo)

The gang was led by Anand Kumar, an assistant manager posted at the Uttar Pradesh Gramin Bank branch in Khubupura (Sambhal), who was well-versed with the recruitment process of the Institute of Banking Personnel Selection (IBPS). He used his insider knowledge to run the racket, said DCP (South) Nipun Agarwal.

“He recruited banking staff and Scale-I officers in the gang to exploit their understanding of the system. Their roles were divided from filling the forms to guiding the candidates through the final interview,” said the officer.

Investigations revealed that the gang charged ₹5.2 lakh per candidate to ensure selection. Out of this, ₹2 lakh went to Anand, while the rest was distributed among other members. Candidates who appeared as solvers were paid ₹20,000 for the preliminary exam and up to ₹1 lakh for the mains.

Police said Anand used his connections in the banking sector to find both solvers and aspirants. “Identifying how many candidates were fraudulently passed and employed through the racket will be a major challenge,” an officer said.

The other arrested members of the gang include Gaurav Aditya, Harsh Joshi, Bhagirath Sharma, Sudhanshu Kumar, Dhananjay Kumar Saurabh, Rajeev Narayan Pandey, Mukesh Kumar, Ashish Ranjan and Abhishek.

ACP (Krishnanagar) VK Pandey said four police teams have been deployed to track the absconding accused, including Rohit Kumar of Patna, Yogendra Kumar of Gaya, and Shiv Kumar of Jehanabad, all from Bihar. “We are coordinating with Bihar Police to trace them,” he added.