Patna, June 30: Ten women candidates were caught using cellphones while appearing for a para-medical entrance examination at BD Evening College in Yaarpur today.

All the accused, aged between 22 and 35, had bluetooth-enabled handsets hidden in their clothes, while the wireless earplugs were tucked away in their hair.

“BD Evening College was one of the many centres where the examination was being conducted. The police received a tip-off that 10 women candidates had been caught adopting unfair means,” an officer at Gardanibagh police station said.

“A police team promptly reached the institution and took them into custody before taking them to court. The court remanded them in jail custody. The arrested women hailed from different districts of the state such as Patna, Nalanda and Hajipur among others. Most of them are strangers but some among them know each other,” the officer added.

According to sources, the answering devices attached to their ears were all wire-less, which made detection difficult.

“The earplugs did not have any wire attached to them. The women had kept the cellphones in silent mode and hid them in their clothes. They were reading out the questions to their acquaintances outside the examination hall in a very low tone who then dictated them the answers from the other end,” the officer said.

“ The people who were providing the answers to the examinees could not been arrested but the police are sure that more than one person was involved. Some of them have been identified and would be arrested soon,” the officer added.

The sources said the accused were taking the exam in different classrooms.

“It is strange that all of them were using the same modus operandi for cheating. There is every possibility that some group or gang had directed them to adopt the procedure because most of the women were complete strangers but were using the same technique. Investigations are on,” the officer said.