JEE Scam| SIT formed; Assam Police arrest 5 'Munna Bhais'

Guwahati: Assam police have formed a special investigation team (SIT) to inquire into the alleged irregularities in the recently declared Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains and five persons have already been arrested in this connection.

Police have so far arrested the “original” candidate, Neel Nakshatra Das; his father, Dr Jyotirmoy Das; and three employees of an examination centre – Hamendra Nath Sarma, Pranjal Kalita and Hirulal Pathak, sources said.

All the accused will be produced before court on Thursday.

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Meanwhile, police have intensified the investigation as ghost candidate was allegedly used during the examination held in September this year.

The entrance test leads to admission to country’s top engineering colleges including the IIT. It is alleged that the original candidate Neel Nakshatra Das managed to secure 99.8 per cent without appearing in the examination personally.

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As per reports, an FIR was lodged by Mitradev Sharma at the Azara police station in Guwahati against the candidate alleging that he didn’t appear for the test held on September 5.

“A complaint was filed in this regard on October 23. We have constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe the allegations. The FIR alleges that the candidate used a proxy to appear in the test on his behalf,” said Suprotiv Lal Baruah, additional DCP (West), Guwahati.

Allegedly, the candidate was scheduled to appear for the test at a centre located at Borjhar area of Guwahati, but after the completion of the biometric attendance formalities, the candidate came out of the examination hall with the help of an invigilator concerned, and from there someone else appeared the test on his behalf.

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“The matter came to light after the candidate reportedly admitted this during a phone call, which was recorded. As of now, we haven’t come across any other case of misrepresentation during the test,” Baruah, additional DCP (West), Guwahati told media.

According to the complaint made to the police, it alleges that the parents of the candidate, both of whom are practicing doctors, had paid a sum of Rs 15-20 lakh to a private coaching institute in Guwahati to help the candidate in the examination.

According to sources, the police have registered a case at the Azara Police Station 624/20 under IPC 120(B)/419/420/406 and have contacted the National Testing Agency (NTA), which conducts the test across the country, and are collecting the necessary data related to the JEE Mains to carry on further investigation.

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