NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation created a database of over 10 lakh students from eight states for identification of those who were hired by the Vyapam scam masterminds to appear in the 2012 pre-medical test and facilitate cheating by the candidates who had paid for cracking the examination.
When the agency took over the probe, 145 accused were either unidentified or untraced. A majority of them were paper-solvers who, in connivance with the accused middlemen, had given wrong addresses on their application forms.
“During investigation, the agency came across evidence indicating that the paper-solvers were either from medical colleges or were bright students attending coaching classes in Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Delhi, Rajasthan, Jharkhand, West Bengal and Maharashtra,” said a CBI official.
Therefore, the CBI collected particulars of various medical colleges and coaching institutes in all these states and prepared a database of more than 10 lakh such students. Their details were matched with the available information to zero in on the suspects. Advanced software was also used for identification and matching of facial features, using the photographs from admit-card records.
The CBI found that application forms of the solvers were filled out by middlemen, using bogus and common details of addresses, mobile numbers and email IDs. However, the online application fees were paid collectively for a group of solvers through certain kiosks or cyber cafes, which have now been identified.
The examination was conducted on June 10, 2012. As part of the alleged conspiracy, seating arrangements at examination centres were manipulated to ensure that the paper solvers sat in front of the candidates, who could then easily copy the answers. Invigilators were also roped in to evade detection.
The CBI has filed a charge sheet against 592 accused, including 334 paper solvers and beneficiary candidates, 155 guardians of such candidates, 22 middlemen and 46 invigilators, for their involvement.
