Two young men from Thane were arrested by the police for allegedly committing fraud during the ongoing recruitment for the Thane police force.
According to police sources, Ganesh Ghuge (20), a resident of Sangamner, had appeared for the Thane rural police’s recruitment drive but was rejected in the physical tests. He then applied to the Thane police, and was selected. The written exam was scheduled for Wednesday.
“Ganesh was not very confident of passing the written exams. More than 11,000 youths appeared for the exams this year, and Ganesh was afraid that he would fail. So, he asked his childfood friend Sopan Ghuge to appear in his place. Sopan was a brighter individual,” said an officer with the Thane police. Ganesh replaced his photograph on his hall ticket with Sopan’s picture. Subsequently, Sopan went for the written exam.
A sub-inspector from the Ulhasnagar police station was posted on duty at the examination centre and was screening examinees before letting them inside the examination hall.
On examining the hall ticket that Sopan was carrying, he noticed signs of tampering and questioned him closely. Sopan tried to get away by giving evasive replies, but broke down after persistent questioning and admitted to being an imposter.