Hole in the wall and screen share: Gujarat Police bust high-tech TOEFL fraud

Can you imagine a breach so sophisticated that even seasoned hackers would be impressed? A sensational case from Gujarat's Anand has exposed glaring vulnerabilities in the security of international language tests such as TOEFL and CELPIP.

This was no ordinary cheating operation. Instead of smuggling notes into an exam hall, the accused allegedly drilled a hidden hole through a college wall, ran HDMI cables between rooms, and used screen-sharing technology to allow an expert sitting next door to answer questions on behalf of candidates.

The racket was uncovered at Anand Arts College, where exams were being conducted under an agreement with Link Horizon. Acting on a tip-off, the Anand Cyber Crime Police raided the centre and discovered an elaborate setup designed to help candidates clear the exams in exchange for large sums of money.

According to investigators, the computer lab and an adjacent sports room shared a common wall. The accused allegedly created a concealed opening in the wall and routed an HDMI splitter cable through it. While the actual candidate sat quietly in the examination hall, their computer screen was mirrored to a system in the neighbouring room, where a "dummy expert" completed the test remotely.

Police arrested the main accused, Tarunkant Rakeshkant Sharma, a resident of Sahibabad in Uttar Pradesh who was living in Ahmedabad's South Bopal area. During the raid, officers seized computers, electronic devices and splitter equipment worth approximately Rs 3.78 lakh.

An FIR has been registered under multiple provisions of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023, including sections related to cheating, forgery and criminal conspiracy, as well as Section 66D of the Information Technology Act.

Investigators believe Sharma was only one part of a larger network. Two other key suspects — Harshadbhai Bhogilal Rawal and Arth Sunilbhai Bundela of Ahmedabad — are currently absconding. Police suspect the racket may have links extending beyond Gujarat to Delhi-NCR and Punjab.

The discovery of such a sophisticated cheating operation in an international examination centre has raised serious questions about the security protocols of online testing agencies and the certification process for examination venues. Police are now probing how many candidates may have benefited from the scheme and whether similar operations were being run elsewhere.

- Ends

With inputs from Hetali Shah