The chief of the Metropolitan Police Bureau (MPB)'s Training Centre lodged a complaint Sunday with Phahon Yothin police against 347 people allegedly involved in cheating in the latest police entrance examination.
Pol Col Uthen Nuiphin said he lodged the complaint about possible cheating during the police officers entrance examination on Dec 4, 2016.
Pol Col Uthen said he accused 347 people, mostly applicants who took a written test to become police officers, of cheating in the exam. Jeerapoj Playduang, a city inspector at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration (BMA), was among the accused.
Speaking Sunday after a meeting with police on the issue, the MPB deputy commander Pol Maj Gen Adul Narongsak, who also serves as president of the sub-committee for the written test, said officials started suspecting applicants of cheating in the exam after checking the answer sheets.
They started to wonder what was afoot when it was found that only one applicant got a very high score while more than 50 applicants got only 13 out of 150 points, Pol Maj Gen Adul said.
The average score should not have been so low, he said.
It was suspected many of these examinees were only there to supply answers to other applicants.
Pol Maj Gen Adul said authorities called many applicants in for interviews and they admitted to being involved in cheating during the exam.
He said he reported the cheating to national police chief Chakthip Chaijinda and asked him to cancel the examination results pending an investigation.
Cheating in a police officers entrance examination is considered a serious issue that can harm the department's reputation, he added.
Pol Maj Gen Adul said police are setting up an investigating team to work with Phahon Yothin police to probe the allegations.
Pol Gen Chakthip Chaijinda, the national police chief, ordered Pol Lt Gen Sakda Techakriengkrai, who serves as acting assistant police chief, to check whether cheating occurred in other tests, he added.
Pol Maj Gen Adul said police plan to sue the suspects for damages of eight million baht for the test procedures.
Speaking in response to the incident, newly-appointed Bangkok governor Asawin Kwanmuang said he supported the probe against a BMA officer who was found to be connected to the cheating.
However, he declined to say how many BMA officers were allegedly involved in the incident.