Madhya Pradesh police have registered a criminal case against 12 candidates accused of cheating in the Excise Constable Recruitment Examination conducted in September 2025, officials said, after irregularities in their performance raised suspicion of fraud. The police action comes after detailed data and video analysis flagged highly unusual patterns in the exam results for the state’s excise department recruitment.

The recruitment test, organised by the Madhya Pradesh Employees Selection Board (MPESB) for 243 excise constable posts, drew over 1.10 lakh applicants. Authorities became alerted while finalising results in February 2026, identifying a group of 12 candidates with exceptionally high marks despite much lower scores in previous police recruitment tests.

MPESB’s internal scrutiny revealed a striking anomaly: these candidates completed the 100‑question exam in only about 15 to 20 minutes, despite having a two‑hour time window. System flags indicated that many candidates merely scrolled through the question paper before rapidly providing correct answers toward the end — an abnormal pattern for such a comprehensive test.

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CCTV footage from the Ratlam exam centre, where the test was held between September 9 and 21, supported suspicion of external assistance. The recordings showed an individual allegedly providing help to the candidates at different times and in different labs at the centre, prompting authorities to cancel the 12 candidates’ results and move for legal action.

Following the initial detection of irregularities, MP Nagar police in Bhopal lodged a zero FIR, which was later transferred to Ratlam district police, as the alleged misconduct took place at the exam centre there. Police registered the formal charges under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), including accusations related to cheating and dishonest inducement.

Of the 12 individuals booked, nine hail from the Gwalior‑Chambal region of northern Madhya Pradesh, with the remainder from Haryana and Agra in Uttar Pradesh. Investigators said evidence, including CDs and CCTV footage, has been collected and further inquiry is underway to determine the extent of possible insider facilitation or technical manipulation.

The case highlights ongoing challenges in ensuring the integrity of competitive recruitment processes and reflects increased use of data analysis and surveillance to detect irregular examination behaviour. Authorities have emphasised that the investigation will continue and that further action will depend on the evidence gathered in the coming weeks.

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