Full-sleeve shirts of aspirants cut to half; some urgently change jeans to track pants; a few appear in vests

Mysore/Mysuru: Several thousands of aspirants appeared for the written exam for 3,064 posts of Armed Police Constables (APC) at City Armed Reserve (CAR) and District Armed Reserve (DAR) Police forces, for male and sexual minority (male) aspirants, conducted by State Police Department today at 36 centres in the city.

While the City Police Unit conducted the exam at 29 centres including Maharani’s Junior College on Narayana Shastry Road, Maharani’s Women’s Commerce and Management College, Paduvarahalli (Vinayaka Nagar), JSS Law College, Kuvempunagar to name a few, the District Police conducted the exam at seven centres totalling 36 centres, amid heavy Police bandobust. A total of 19,400 candidates had enrolled for the exam in district and list of absentees will be available later.

In the wake of severe malpractices that were exposed during the exams for First Division Assistants (FDAs) conducted by Karnataka Examination Authority (KEA) in October 2023 and 545 PSI posts in October 2021, stringent measures were taken to check the possibility of recurrences of any exam-related irregularities.

Separate make-shift counters had been opened at each of the centres for the aspirants to deposit their bags. Those entering the exam hall with admit cards were thoroughly frisked at the entrance with a hand-held metal detector, before passing through a door-frame metal detector.

Candidates who arrived for the exam wearing full sleeve shirts were subjected to an unusual procedure, with Police personnel using scissors to cut off the shirt sleeves before permitting entry into the exam hall.

Following the standard protocol, only formal trousers were allowed, and wearing jeans was not permitted. In an attempt to comply with these regulations, candidates were observed engaging in last-minute shopping, with some purchasing track pants from vendors on footpaths near the exam centres. This allowed them to quickly change and rush to the exam halls.

Interestingly, some of the aspirants who were unwilling to allow their full sleeves shirt to be cut, readily deposited them with the Police, before walking inside in a vest. Waist belts, bracelets, talisman, mobile phones, digital watches, headphones and microphones were also strictly prohibited from being carried inside the centre.

The candidates  were also asked to remove their footwears at the entrance before checking and allowing them inside with the footwears. 

Before entering the designated room, the candidates had to undergo a final check, with the Police verifying their Aadhaar card and taking their photograph on a cell phone camera, with their palms facing the camera. City Police including DCPs, ACPs and Inspectors were seen making visits to exam centres.