The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested the managing director of a private education service and five others for their alleged role in manipulating the online examination for admission in BITS, Pilani.
Cases have been filed against Bhaskar Choudhary, managing director of Delhi-based Pathway Education Service; Ketan Barot of Disha Education in Ahmedabad; cyberexperts Sheth Mohammed Usama and Virag Harendra Kumar Shah; Darpan Shirish Pathak, manager of an examination centre in Ahmedabad; and its owner Nishikant Sinha for allegedly supplying answers to the candidates in exchange for monetary gain.
“₹33 lakh in cash was seized during searches in Delhi, Ahmedabad, Vadodara and Mumbai. We have got 12 days’ custody of the accused,” said an official.
It was alleged that the managing director of the Delhi-based institution hired cyberexperts for the job, in connivance with the Ahmedabad-based accomplice and the examination centre’s owner. The experts gave the answers to the candidates using remote desktop technology from an unknown destination, for amounts ranging from ₹10 lakh to ₹12 lakh.
The centres at Ahmedabad and Vadodara were “compromised with unwarranted Internet connectivity and installation of dubious software through which the remote user accessed” the screen of computers used by the candidates to take the test.
