Cracking various entrance examinations, like the JEE (Mains) which was held in September this year, has become no less than a rat-race in our country. Given the amount of competition, many people resort to unfair means and practices just to secure a rank. Recently, 5 different coaching institutes advertised the same JEE topper as their student in a hilarious marketing fail.
As per a report in TOI, the Assam police has arrested Dr. Jyotirmoy Das and his ‘topper’ son Neel Nakshatra Das who scored 99.8 percentile in the JEE (Mains) exam. It was revealed that he achieved the top rank by using a proxy candidate to write the exam for him.
3 other employees of the testing center named Hamendra Nath Sarma, Pranjal Kalita, and Hirulal Pathak have also been arrested. The police statement stated that all 5 of them have been charged with cheating by personation, criminal breach of trust, cheating and criminal conspiracy. They are scheduled to appear in a local court today.
The police first started the investigation after Mitradev Sharma of Mathura Nagar, Dispur lodged an FIR. He cited a phone call recording and WhatsApp chat in which the accused allegedly talked about having used unfair means to bag the top rank in the exam, which soon surfaced on social media as well.
The complainant also alleged that an educational institution helped the accused candidate in the entire process. “The candidate’s father has paid a huge sum of money approximately Rs 15-20 lakh for this purpose,” he mentioned in his FIR. Reportedly, the invigilator is also said to have helped the accused aspirant. The FIR read, “The candidate came out of the examination hall after biometric attendance with the help of an invigilator and in his place, someone else appeared for the examination.”
Guwahati Police Commissioner MP Gupta told NDTV, “An FIR (first information report) has been registered with the Azara Police in Assam against the topper of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Mains in Assam, allegedly for using a proxy to appear in the examination on his behalf. We investigated the case and have unearthed that a proxy was used by the candidate through the help of another agency that acted as a middleman.”
He added, “The staff of the testing center in Guwahati is also involved. We are searching for more people (who are involved in the crime). This might not be a one-off case but may be part of a larger scam …We are looking at all aspects.”
As per the police, the management has been summoned and the examination center has been sealed. The National Testing Agency (NTA) has also been informed about the incident.
While lakhs of aspiring engineering candidates prepare for years to secure a seat in one of the reputed IITs in India, such malpractice should be dealt with an iron fist. If proven guilty, we hope the accused get severe punishment.
Cover Image Source- Left