Pune, 29th August 2026: The Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) has uncovered an alleged cheating case involving three candidates who appeared for its Junior Engineer (Civil) recruitment examination. The candidates allegedly used camera-enabled glasses to scan questions and obtain answers before completing the paper.
A case has been registered at Shivajinagar Police Station against Gajanan Pache, Shivshankar Shelgave and Vishnukant Waghmare. Two employees, Yogesh Rathod and Vikas Gaikwad, have also been booked for allegedly helping the candidates.
The PMC conducted the recruitment examination in April for 169 Junior Engineer (Civil) posts. The online examination was held in seven sessions, with 20,735 candidates appearing out of around 42,000 registered applicants.
The results were announced on June 9 and June 15, following which 545 candidates were called for document verification.
The case came to light after photographs of the question paper circulated on Telegram groups and social media platform X, triggering concerns about a possible paper leak. The PMC subsequently asked IBPS to investigate the matter.
IBPS examined the online logs and CCTV footage of all 20,735 candidates. Three candidates who appeared at the Icon Digital Zone examination centre in Chikalthana, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, showed an unusual pattern.
The three candidates reportedly spent the first 30 minutes reading questions before going to the washroom. After returning, they answered questions rapidly and solved around 100 questions in the final 30 minutes, with more than 90 answers reportedly being correct.
The CCTV footage also showed that they did not appear to use rough sheets even while attempting difficult questions.
The investigation indicated that the candidates may have used glasses fitted with small cameras to scan the questions and transmit them outside. They are suspected of obtaining answers while in the washroom and then using them to complete the examination quickly.
Additional Municipal Commissioner Prajit Nair said the investigation did not indicate a widespread paper leak.
“The Junior Engineer examination was not compromised by a paper leak. If the paper had been leaked, the logs would have shown several candidates answering questions rapidly from the beginning. After examining the logs of all candidates, we found suspicious activity involving three candidates, and legal action has been initiated against them,” he said.
The PMC also examined the individual data logs of the 545 candidates called for document verification. Officials said no suspicious activity was found among them.
The cheating case has not stopped the recruitment process. The PMC has issued appointment letters to eligible candidates for 146 of the 169 Junior Engineer posts and has started the process of inducting them into service.
The police investigation is expected to determine how the questions were transmitted outside the examination hall, whether money was exchanged and how the candidates managed to use the suspected equipment.
Investigators will also examine how the accused knew about the availability of mobile connectivity in the washroom and how the alleged cheating plan was organised and executed.
