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Why Shweta Tiwari is demanding Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains’s resignation: News18 explains pharmacy exam scam amid Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation
Shweta Tiwari, Dharmendra Pradhan, Harjot Singh Bains. (File)
Two days before Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan stepped down over NEET-UG paper leak protests, Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains had offered to resign. Following Pradhan’s exit, actor Shweta Tiwari took a public jibe at the protesting platform Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), demanding to know when they would picket Punjab over its own high-tech pharmacy examination cheating scandal.
What is the controversy? News18 explains.
WHAT IS THE PUNJAB PHARMACY EXAM SCAM?
The Punjab Pharmacy Exam Scam refers to a high-tech cheating operation busted on 19 July 2026 during the Pharmacy Officer Recruitment Examination conducted by Baba Farid University of Health Sciences (BFUHS). Rather than an institutional “pre-exam leak” where papers are stolen days in advance, this scam utilized a “live breach” system to compromise the test in real time.
The exact mechanics of how this live breach worked include:
The Live Breach System Architecture
Step 1: The Camera Pen Capture: Inside the examination halls (across locations like Faridkot, Kotkapura, and Ferozepur), designated candidates used covert smart pens equipped with micro-cameras. Minutes after the exam commenced (between 11:10 AM and 11:25 AM), they used these pens to photograph the active question paper and transmit the images out via WhatsApp.
Step 2: The Interstate Control Rooms: The images were routed to handlers outside the venue. A primary control room was operated from a residence in Faridkot by alleged mastermind Gurmeet Singh. The papers were forwarded to accomplices and professional “solvers” stationed in areas like Bhiwani, Haryana.
Step 3: The Live Dictation Feed: After solvers quickly cracked the objective-type questions, a live cellular or radio link was maintained with candidates inside. Candidates initiated a hidden call to a handler, whispered their specific question paper set code, and received the answers live through micro Bluetooth earpieces hidden deep inside ears, turbans, or stitched into undergarments.
Scale & Subsequent Law Enforcement Actions
Punjab Police and BFUHS flying squads detected the real-time transmissions, leading to the arrest and detention of 35 individuals (7 kingpins/organisers and 28 cheating candidates).
Authorities recovered 27 battery-operated wireless micro-devices, spy pens, SIM cards, and post-dated cheques ranging from ₹3.5 lakh to ₹13 lakh collected from candidates as collateral security.
While opposition parties like the Congress and BJP labeled the incident a systemic failure and demanded the resignation of state ministers, the ruling AAP government defended its actions. They highlighted that because it was a live breach thwarted on-site by vigilant squads, it demonstrates that the administration actively catches and exposes electronic cheating networks rather than covering them up
THE MINISTER’S RESPONSE & RESIGNATION OFFER
Facing a combined onslaught from the Congress, BJP, and SAD, Punjab Education Minister Harjot Singh Bains stated, “If my resignation can improve the education system, I am ready anytime.”
Bains clarified that the issue was a case of high-tech cheating rather than a systemic institutional leak. He emphasized that his own administration proactively caught the cheaters and busted the racket rather than trying to suppress it.
Concurrently, opposition leaders have also demanded the resignation of Punjab’s Health and Medical Education Minister, Dr. Balbir Singh, citing moral responsibility for irregularities in medical recruitment parameters.
THE SHWETA TIWARI CONTROVERSY
Following Pradhan’s resignation, actor Shweta Tiwari reshared a video of CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke. She asked, “Now, when is the Punjab Education Minister resigning? And when are you protesting there, Cockroach Janta Party?”
Her statement triggered viral debates regarding selective political outrage and uniform accountability across different state governments.
WHAT PUNJAB CM BHAGWANT MANN SAID ON SUNDAY
Punjab CM Bhagwant Singh Mann said, “It has been 4.5 years since the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government was formed. Not a single paper has leaked in Punjab. We had received reports of cheating from two places. They were scanning the papers digitally with a Bluetooth pen and sending them out. They were getting the answers they wanted from outside. Ten minutes after the paper started, the students inside who were cheating were also caught and those who were getting the papers done from outside, who were charging Rs 3-5 lakhs for a paper, they were also caught and put in jail. A total of 21 people were caught and put in jail.”
With agency inputs
About the Author
At the news desk for 20 years, the story of her life has revolved around finding pun, facts while reporting, on radio, heading a daily newspaper desk, teaching mass media students to now editing speci…Read More
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