JAIPUR:  Rajasthan heaved a huge sigh of relief as the high-profile Rajasthan Eligibility Exam for Teachers (REET) passed off without any serious mishap on Sunday.  With 70,000 policemen on duty and internet services snapped in most parts of the state to counter cheating threats, the examination was conducted successfully in two shifts.

However, there were some copycats who tried to cheat with ‘Bluetooth chappals’. Five persons, three of the candidates, were arrested before the exam in Bikaner as they were found wearing slippers (chappals) with Bluetooth devices fitted inside the sole. Bikaner SP Priti Chandra said two of them, identified as Madan Lal and Trilokchand, were gang members who provided the slippers to candidates or their relatives for Rs 6 lakh.

Based on the information of the gang members, police in other districts, including Sikar, Pratapgarh, and Ajmer, were alerted. Seven others were also arrested from different places. Organizing the REET had become a challenge for the Ashok Gehlot government.

Though there were a few minor incidents of cheating reported, over 16.5 lakh candidates took the REET at 3,993 exam centers across all 33 districts for the recruitment of 31,000 teachers in state government schools. The exam had been postponed five times in the past.

Apart from the police, over 5,500 home guards and 50 companies of RAC, MBC, SDRF, and other armed forces were deployed to prevent any mishaps in the REET, which had often led to massive cheating in the past.

CCTV cameras were installed at most of the examination centers. Tight security was especially maintained at the centers in Barmer, Sawai Madhopur, Karauli, Dausa, Nagaur, Sikar, Bharatpur, Jhunjhunu and Jalore, which had witnessed major cheating rackets in the past.