PGMET topper, 3 others held

Police said that a gang member infiltrated the Manipal press, as a casual labourer, and stole copies of the question paper. Cops found that the three main accused were involved in exam scams in Karnataka and MP too.

The police also arrested a doctor, who helped the gang with answer keys. So far, the CID has arrested 30 people — 15 medical students and 15 brokers — in connection with the case. The CID said that 27 students, 16 consultants, a doctor, and two helpers were involved in the scam.

Explaining the modus operandi, CID additional DG Krishna Prasad said the gang had hatched an elaborate plan to leak question papers and tutor the candidates with the help of answer keys and to collect money from the candidates. “Initially, the main accused, Ameer Ahmed, from the Davangere district of Karnataka, tried to infiltrate the Manipal press. The brokers got in touch with 27 candidates, who agreed to pay for the leaked papers. The brokers also tutored the candidates at Mumbai, Goa, Hyderabad and Bengaluru before the examinations,” said Mr Prasad.

During the course of the investigation, the CID officials found that most of the students paid huge amounts, as advance, through cheques and bank transactions. “A few even paid the money through hawala,” said the CID chief, adding that officials are yet to find the total amount involved in the scam. The officials have also found many irregularities and procedural lapses at the NTR University of Health Sciences. Officials said that if need be, action will be initiated against the university staff also. Around 15,000 students had appeared for the examinations.

Examinations were held on March 2 for 2,240 seats across colleges in AP. However, many students complained it was suspicious that some candidates, who had earlier performed poorly in graduation exams and entrance tests, had secured top ranks. The CID initiated a probe into the scam later.