A cheating racket was uncovered during the Pharmacist Officer recruitment examination conducted by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) on Sunday at three examination centres. Acting swiftly on a tip-off, university authorities rounded up around 30 candidates for allegedly using high-tech Bluetooth devices to cheat in the exam.

The Punjab Health and Family Welfare Department had recently entrusted BFUHS with the recruitment of 454 Pharmacist Officers. As part of the recruitment process, the university conducted a 90-mark written examination on Sunday.

Around 7,000 aspirants were scheduled to appear for the test, which was held at three designated centres in Ferozepur, Faridkot and Kotkapura.

The examination began smoothly in the morning, but midway through the test, university authorities received a tip-off about an organised cheating racket operating at the centres.

According to sources, several candidates inside the examination halls were allegedly receiving answers through concealed Bluetooth devices, with an accomplice outside the centres dictating responses over mobile phones.

Upon receiving the information, the university administration immediately alerted the authorities. All three examination centres were sealed to prevent anyone from entering or leaving.

With the assistance of the local police, university officials conducted a thorough search of the examination halls. During the operation, around 30 candidates were caught using Bluetooth devices to solve the question paper.

The matter is currently under investigation. The detained candidates are being questioned to identify the alleged mastermind operating outside the examination centres. Police are conducting a preliminary inquiry and are yet to register a First Information Report (FIR). Further details are awaited.