Punjab Police have busted a major pharmacist exam cheating racket linked to the Pharmacist Officer recruitment test conducted by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS) on 19 July 2026. In a coordinated operation across Faridkot and Ferozepur, police detained 35 people, including 28 candidates and seven alleged masterminds, and seized 27 battery-operated wireless devices used to transmit answers during the exam.
What Triggered the Crackdown
The Punjab Health and Family Welfare Department had assigned BFUHS the task of recruiting candidates for 454 Pharmacist Officer posts. Around 7,000 aspirants appeared for the 90-mark written test across 25 examination centres, which was scheduled to run from 11 am to 1 pm. Midway through the exam, the counter-intelligence wing of Punjab Police intercepted signals suggesting a real-time answer-transmission network was active inside the centres, prompting an immediate, coordinated search operation.
Although the test was originally due to conclude by 1:30 pm, the extensive centre-wide checks meant many candidates were kept inside the halls until around 3 pm, leading to a long and uncomfortable wait for those unconnected to the racket.
Modus Operandi of the Cheating Racket
Investigators found that the accused had planned an elaborate, inter-state cheating racket. A candidate in Ferozepur allegedly used a concealed pen camera to photograph the question paper, which was sent via WhatsApp to an accomplice in Bhiwani, Haryana. From there, the paper was forwarded to another operative running a makeshift control room in Faridkot, who dictated answers back to candidates. Police say the devices recovered included miniature Bluetooth gadgets, pen cameras and hidden earpieces, several of which were concealed in turbans, socks and clothing. Officials clarified that the breach happened entirely in real time, with no advance leak of the question paper.
Detentions and Seizures
Of the 35 people held, seven have been identified as key conspirators from Rajasthan, Haryana and Punjab, while the remaining 28 are candidates caught using the devices. Detentions were spread across the affected centres, with police confirming that raids are still underway to trace other members of the network. The 27 seized wireless devices are being examined as part of the evidence in the case.
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