Claiming to have laid its hands on “clinching evidence of corruption and other criminal practices” of the Jammu and Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE), the Crime Branch has expanded its investigation into the MBBS selection scam of 2012 to include three more years of selections, even as BOPEE’s ex-chairman was grilled by officials for the second consecutive day on Thursday.
Authoritative sources associated with the investigation revealed to The Hindu that the former chairman of the selection body, Mushtaq Ahmad Peer, was questioned at the Crime Branch police station for about six hours but was not arrested.
“Mr. Peer maintained that he has done nothing unfair or criminal in the selection of candidates during his three-year tenure.
But we have collected clinching evidence of his direct involvement in facilitating unfair means for selection of candidates, carrying out huge money transactions and acquiring properties worth crores of rupees in the last three years,” one of the investigators disclosed.
According to these sources, out of the top 40 candidates in the merit list of 2012, as many as 20 have been found to have paid bribes of Rs. 15 lakh-Rs. 20 lakh each for their selection.
Even as the investigation was initially limited to the selections of 2012, it has now expanded to cover selections that took place between 2010-2013. Mr. Peer alone had access to the BOPEE’s secret sectors.
Mr. Haroon, the approver, revealed how Mr. Peer had leaked the question papers and allowed the beneficiaries to write their exams at a private hotel on the Boulevard.