KARACHI: The imposition of Section-144 has failed to curtail rampant cheating during the intermediate board exams in Karachi.
It has been revealed that cheating through the use of mobile phones, as well as bringing in notes, continues unabated at several exam centres across Karachi. Moreover, despite a crackdown on WhatsApp groups where solved papers are circulating, the same continue to be accessed in certain exam centres.
On Tuesday, Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure was imposed at all the examination centres across Sindh.
The imposition was aimed to prevent strangers from entering the exam centres and barring everyone from using or taking mobile phones inside the premises.
Neither candidates nor invigilators can keep mobile phones while they are in the exam halls. If anybody is found violating the law, legal action would be taken against them, it was stated.
Section 144 gives power to authorities concerned to immediately issue orders in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehending danger.
Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah, as well as education minister Jam Mahtab Hussain Dahar, paid surprise visits to several exam centres on Tuesday and found smartphones in the possession of an invigilator as well as students.
During his interaction with students and the media, the chief minister appealed to all the stakeholders to unite and curb the menace of cheating.
The papers for the secondary and intermediate board, which were recently leaked, would be circulated on WhatsApp, reaching candidates before they could see them in the exam halls.
Four major WhatsApp groups among these are said to have been traced by the counter-terrorism department. Four of the suspected people involved with the virtual groups reportedly belong to Karachi, while three others are from Hyderabad.
