Guwahati, Oct. 31: In what has become the major area of concern, the ongoing investigation into the JEE exam fraud case has found evidence, indicating that the practice of proxy appearing in the JEE examination has a wide nexus and it was prevalent at many more centres.
Pointing out that police have arrested one more suspect Kakoli Bezbaruah from Roopnagar area of the capital city, security sources probing the fraud told this newspaper that more in-depth investigation that too at national level was required to bust the racket. Fearing that the practice of facilitating proxy for the examination has been going on for the last few years, security sources said that the idea of using proxy in JEE exams was also practiced at various other centres to which accused in Guwahati copied.
It is significant that the topper of the Joint Entrance Exam (Mains) in Assam, his father and three others have been arrested by the city police here on Thursday on charges of using a proxy to write the country's premier engineering entrance test. The accused had succeeded in securing 99.8 percent in the exam, which is the basis for admission in India's top engineering colleges, including the prestigious IITs.
The student Neel Nakshatra Das who was arrested for using a proxy to write the exam in his confession before the police said that he was forced to appear for the exam by his parents. Police said that during interrogation he also revealed that he would have waited another year to give the exams. In fact arrested student Das wanted to pursue arts stream but parents forced him to take up science in Higher Secondary, security sources said.
The police have arrested six persons, including the candidate and his father, a practising doctor of a reputed city hospital. The Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) has formed a special investigating team under the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Suprative Lal Baruah to probe the scam. DCP Nabaneet Mahanta said that the case is very complicated and the police will soon be making some more arrests. “JEE (Main) is conducted through a stringent process. Therefore, without the involvement of a number of people, it is not easy to indulge in such malpractices,” he said.
The fraud in JEE examination has also raised questions over the national-level examination conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) based upon which a candidate gets a seat in engineering and technical institutes of the country.
In order to conduct the examination, the NTA engaged Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) as an outsourced agency. People familiar with the examination process said that TCS provides infrastructural support and human resource to NTA in conducting the examination.
The fraud also proved the lackadaisical attitude of TCS in managing the examination process, as two of its employees – Hemendra Nath Sarma and Pranjal Kalita – have also been arrested by the police.
Indicating that a coaching institute was also involved in the racket, police said that they are leaving no stone unturned bust this racket. The incident has also come as a shocker for the meritorious students as a student who appeared in the JEE (Main), said he had witnessed execution of a very strict procedure in the examination hall. “I am shocked at the news, because there was no scope to adopt any malpractice in that examination. If it really took place, then a number of people might have been involved,” he said.
