GUWAHATI: The Assam police has constituted a Special Investigation Team (SIT) to probe a scam in the Joint Entrance Examination (Mains) in which five people were arrested for using a proxy to appear in the test in September on behalf of a candidate, who secured 99.8 per cent marks, police said on Thursday.
Guwahati Police Commissioner M.P. Gupta said that a JEE (Main) candidate, his doctor father and three other co-conspirators were arrested on Wednesday evening and with the court’s orders on Thursday police have taken them in their custody for interrogation. “The SIT led by a senior police officer would investigate the scam. We are looking for others, if any, in the scam,” Gupta told IANS over phone.
The police have approached the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducted the JEE (Main) test across the country in January and September and sought information related to the examination. The examination centre, where the September 5 test was held, has been sealed and the management has been summoned by the police.
Another senior police official said that a complaint was lodged with the police on October 23 claiming that a candidate for the JEE (Mains) test reportedly used a proxy candidate to appear for the test on his behalf and he secured 99.8 per cent marks with the help of an invigilator and another person besides a private coaching centre. The police did not yet divulge the full details of the scam in the interest of the probe. “The candidate reportedly himself admitted his fraudulent act to one of his friends during a telephonic conversation which was also recorded,” the police official said.
The October 23 complaint claimed that on the day of the examination on September 5, the candidate entered the specified centre at Borjhar area (in Guwahati), but subsequently left the exam hall after completing the biometric attendance and other formalities with the help of an invigilator and another person.
“After the original candidate walked out of the testing center his proxy filled up the computer-based answers,” police said. According to the police a private coaching centre in Guwahati was involved in the forgery of the countrywide premier engineering entrance test.
In Assam, 12,803 and 11,864 candidates were supposed to appear in the JEE (Main) examinations in September and October respectively, but some candidates did not sit for the test due to COVID-induced situations.
IANS