Picking up clues requires a sharp eye to detect the smallest of details. This is how the police exam cheating scandal was exposed.
Pol Col Uthen Nuiphin, chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau's Training Centre, stumbled on an unusual score in the exam which took place at Ramkhamhaeng University on Dec 4.
An applicant with a low score of only 13 out of 150 struck the investigators as odd.
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"[The applicant] appeared to have chosen the answers randomly. Even without giving his best shot, he should have achieved a higher score than that," he said.
Pol Col Uthen ordered a background check on the applicant. And that was where the investigation into this exam fraud formally began. As it turned out, police found that although the applicant submitted his Matthayom 6 certificate to sit in the exam, the person is currently studying medicine at a reputable university.
Investigators were left wondering why a medical student wanted to apply for seat in the police force and how, given his credentials, he received such a low score of 13.
His exam question and answer sheets were then scrutinised, revealing even more unusual information about the applicant. On the question paper, he jotted down the correct answers to over 100 questions, along with explanations on how he solved those questions.
What's more, his writing was unusually large, which led investigators to suspect that this was intended for someone sitting next to him to peer over and copy. As for himself, he wrote the wrong answers on his answer sheets, apparently intending to flunk the test, according to Pol Col Uthen.
A check of the medical student's calling history on his mobile phone led police to identify a total of 295 people suspected of being involved in the exam fraud.
Police found eight other academically outstanding students from leading universities who also applied to sit in the exam but did not show up.
They were summoned by police and confessed to being hired for 20,000 baht each to assist other applicants to cheat during the exam. Earlier, they had attended a session at a hotel on Ratchadaphisek Road to undergo a practice scenario for the exam.
But in the end, the eight applicants changed their minds, fearing they might be caught. One of the eight wore a thick pair of eyeglasses. He told the gang he would be the subject of suspicion as his poor eyesight would make him unqualified to take the physical test even if he passed the written exam, Pol Col Uthen said.
Pol Col Uthen said one applicant who copied the answers performed badly in school but managed to get a surprisingly high score in the police exam.
The applicant denied any involvement with the cheating gang. He told police he saw other applicants copying answers. He took advantage of the situation by leaning over to copy the answers as well, since the letters were large enough for him to see clearly from where he was sitting. He copied about 30 answers and got 80 out of a total score of 150.
Police said the cheating was well-planned.
The gang approached their potential customers who were the parents of those taking the exam but who were not confident their children would pass.
The parents paid 500,000 baht each to the gang. The first installment of 400,000 baht was paid before the exam and the rest if the applicant passed. But if the client could find new applicants for the gang, the final 100,000-baht installment would be waived.
Pol Col Uthen said many parents took out loans to pay the gang. If an applicant passed the exam and was recruited as a police officer, he or she could take out a loan from the police cooperative to pay off their parent's debt.
He added:"Solving a crime sometimes requires going back to the basics and paying close attention to details."
On Jan 12, the court issued warrants for the arrest of 51 university students and a City Hall officer in connection with the exam fraud at Ramkhamhaeng University. The fraud was detected among candidates sitting for entrance tests for the MPB and the Provincial Police Region 7.
Contact Crime Track: crimetrack@bangkokpost.co.th