TWO Indian medical students recently got busted for trying to cheat in an exam at the Mahatma Gandhi Memorial Medical College in Indore. Supervisors discovered tiny Bluetooth speakers surgically implanted in their ear canals.

“The students were taking the General Medicine exam with 13 others when a university squad came for a surprise check,” said Dr. Sanjay Dixit, dean of the medical college. “They found one student with a mobile phone and another with some Bluetooth device,” he said.

The Bluetooth speaker was the same color as the students’ skin. Upon questioning, they revealed that surgeons had implanted the devices in their ears. In one of the students’ case, though, it might be understandable why he resorted to such extreme measures. He had been trying to get into the medical school for 11 years and this was his last shot.

Dixit said the electronic devices and answer sheets they used were confiscated. Their cases have been sent to invigilators for further consideration. According to Dixit, the students clearly intended to cheat as they had purposefully concealed the Bluetooth devices.

“We think these microphones were surgically fitted in the ears of the students. Cases have been prepared against the students. A committee will take a decision in this regard,” said Renu Jain, vice chancellor of the invigilator squad that busted the students.

The students, on their part, deny the accusations — at least in part. One of them claims that the Bluetooth speaker wasn’t surgically implanted and could be removed with a pin.

The duo’s fraudulent ways could earn them more punishment than getting kicked out of an entrance exam. They could even get in legal trouble, as using unlawful means in an exam could constitute a crime in India.

The medical university is currently performing an internal investigation into the incident. Once that investigation concludes, they will determine whether they need to get the police involved.

Between 2008 and 2013, multiple people, including doctors, participated in mass university exam cheating. On top of implanted speakers, the methods used in the scam included leaked exam papers, rigged answer sheets, and hired proxies to sit in for the exams. In total, the Indian Supreme Court canceled the licenses of 634 doctors who they determined had played a part in the scandal.

In another case from 2015, in Bihar, parents and relatives of students taking an entrance exam climbed the buildings walls to help their children. As a result, hundreds of people were arrested, and the school expelled more than 750 students.(SD-Agencies)