Hi-tech copycat used device inside his shirt

He would wear the same shirt every day to the exam. Not because it was his lucky shirt. He would always pull the collar up. Not because it was the latest fashion. This student, Arun (name changed), had a speaker and wires tucked away in his shirt — to help him copy. He would receive and transmit information through the device. Arun and two other final year MBBS students who resorted to hi-tech copying have been caught.

Arun, a repeater, was writing part-I ophthalmology paper at J N Medical College in Belgaum in December. When the invigilators quizzed him on wearing the same shirt, he would reply: “It’s my lucky shirt.”

“He would never fold his collar and would always pull the collar near his mouth. This kind of unusual behaviour drew the attention of the invigilators,” S Vasantha Kumar, registrar, RGUHS, told TOI. “His shirt does not raise suspicion. But when we frisked him, we found batteries inside the shirt and when we folded collar, we found something hard. We tore the collar, and found wires and a speaker,” Kumar explained. The malpractice committee, which met last week, decided to debar all the students.