Mumbai: Candidate caught with steroids at police recruitment test

Representational image. Pic/iStock

A 22-year-old male candidate appearing for the Mumbai police constable recruitment field test was caught in possession of steroids on Thursday. The Vanrai police have registered a case against the candidate.

The field test for candidates eligible for the constable post in the Mumbai police force is being conducted at the Group 8 field of the SRPF in Goregaon. The tests include a 5 km run, 100 m sprint, and shot put. To maintain the integrity of the process, strict precautions are in place to prevent GPS tag swapping and the use of dummy candidates. On Thursday, 374 eligible candidates were called for the field test, and their belongings were thoroughly inspected before being allowed inside.

During the inspection, an SRPF officer found steroids and a series of injections from two different companies in the accused candidate's bag. The candidate allegedly intended to use these substances to enhance his running stamina and prevent leg cramps during the recruitment process. This discovery was promptly reported to senior SRPF officers, and the candidate was taken to the Vanrai police station.

Following a complaint from the SRPF officer, the Vanrai police registered a case against the candidate under Section 511 of the IPC and relevant Sections of the Beauty and Cosmetics Act. The candidate, a resident of Prem Nagar in Ville Parle, was taking part in the recruitment process for the first time. The Vanrai police are now investigating the source of the steroids and whether anyone had advised the candidate to use them.

According to sources the home department had previously decided to fill around 17,471 vacancies in the state police force, leading to a massive response with a total of 17,76,256 applicants for various posts including police constable, police constable driver, armed police constable, jail constable, and police constable bandsman.