New Delhi: Just hours after the UPSC announced the Civil Services Examination results on 6th March. Ranjeet Yadav became a celebrity in his hometown in Bihar. He quickly became Sheikhpura’s newest success story: he was invited to the local police station, felicitated by an MLA, and even asked to deliver a motivational speech in the neighbourhood Yadav claimed, he had secured an All India Rank 440. Except he hadn’t. It emerged that the rank belonged to someone else: Ranjith from Karnataka.
And once his lie was caught, Yadav went underground.
“We asked him to come to the police station with his Aadhaar card and UPSC admit card, but after receiving the call, he switched off his phone and fled the village,” a police officer told ThePrint on the condition of anonymity.
There have been multiple incidents of fraud involving aspirants posing as successful candidates reported ever since the results were announced last week. What happened in the small Bihar hamlet also underlines the stigma associated with failing in India’s hyper-competitive government exams. The celebration, the roadshow, the garlanding promotes the VIP culture associated with becoming an IAS. And that builds pressure on those who couldn’t enter the merit list.
“The kind of impersonation cases seen after the recent UPSC results — where someone claims another candidate’s selection because the name matches, or someone even reaches the Mussoorie academy with fake documents — are not a failure of the commission or the government,” said Vijendra Chauhan, a Delhi University professor known for conducting UPSC mock interviews.
“They reflect the extreme glorification of these jobs in society.”
Yadav’s claim of having made it to the merit list wasn’t questioned. Everyone in the town knew he was preparing for the exams in Delhi.
“He had gone to Delhi to prepare for UPSC and used to talk about becoming an IAS officer, that’s why everyone believed him,” said Bablu Yadav, a resident of Sheikhpur.
In the video of his interaction with school children, Yadav can be seen giving a motivational speech.
“If you cannot clearly see your goal, then no matter how hard you work or how much guidance your teachers give you, you will not achieve success. Success only comes when you can clearly see your destination. Don’t blame your luck. Work hard that even luck itself comes to you,” he said.
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A series of mistaken celebrations
The first case this year also originated in Bihar. A candidate named Akanksha Singh from Ara claimed she secured rank 301. The rank was contested by another woman by the same name form Gazipur in Uttar Pradesh.
Singh from Ara even gave an interview, saying she cleared the exam in second attempt.
As the dispute escalated online, the Bihar claimant said she would seek clarification from the commission and would take the matter to court if needed.
“I stand by my claim and want the UPSC to clarify. I have duly sat in for the interview. Let us wait for the UPSC to issue the marksheet,” Singh said.
But when the matter reached the UPSC, the commission clarified it was indeed the Ghazipur candidate who had cleared the exam.
“There are various media reports wherein two candidates of the same name, i.e. Akanksha Singh, are claiming to have secured the same Rank 301 in the final result of the Civil Services Examination, 2025,” read the UPSC statement.
Another such case came from UP’s Bulandshahr where Shikha Singh announced that she cleared the exam. Soon videos circulated online showing her grandfather crying out of happiness. Later, it was found that Shikha Sangwan from Haryana, who had cleared the exam and achieved Rank 113. When the confusion surfaced, Singh admitted she had only checked the name in the result list and not the roll number.
“In the excitement of seeing my name in the list, I did not check the roll number. It was my mistake,” the Bulandshahr resident said.
Earlier this year, Fairuz Fathima from Haridwar’s Piran Kaliyar claimed she had secured Rank 708 in and celebrations were held in the area. However, another candidate named Fairuz Fathima M from Kerala also claimed the same rank, stating her full name appeared on the official merit list, which created confusion over the selected candidate’s identity.
In 2022, a candidate from Palamu, Jharkhand also claimed to have cleared the UPSC and was even felicitated by Chief Minister Hemant Soren. Except the rank belonged to one Kumar Saurabh from UP. The police registered an FIR against the impersonator.
(Edited by Insha Jalil Waziri)