90 AIPMT answer keys leaked, students get answers via bluetooth vests

Haryana police have nabbed four people, including two dentists and an MBBS student, from Rohtak for allegedly passing on answer keys to students using vests with SIM card units and bluetooth-enabled earpieces during the All India Pre Medical Test (AIPMT) on Sunday.

Apart from probing how 90 answer keys to the highly competitive all-India test were leaked, police are also investigating at least nine candidates who allegedly paid the gang around Rs 15-20 lakh for the “help” in their bid to become doctors.

Police said the gang may have spread its reach to other states too, particularly Bihar and Rajasthan. They added that the accused claimed they had purchased the “engineered vests” from a shop in New Delhi.

The specially designed vest with SIM card units, in Rohtak.

Of the four arrested, police have identified two as BDS doctors Sanchit and Bhupender, one as second-year MBBS student Ravi and the fourth as Rajesh. The alleged “kingpin” of this racket, Roop Singh Dangi, is on the run, police said.

Another MBBS doctor – his identity has been withheld – is also under the scanner for acting as a “mediator” between the accused and the students.

Shrikant Jadhav, Inspector General of Police (Rohtak range), said the arrests followed a tip-off. “We alerted the examination authorities and ordered a thorough frisking of every student. Also, we received concrete information about the four accused who were staying in a hotel in Panipat. We tracked their mobile phones to the Jhajjar bypass in Rohtak and caught them,” Jadhav told The Indian Express.

Elaborating on the “special” vests, one of the investigating officers said, “They had sim card units linked to earpieces via bluetooth. Specially configured phones were also supplied to some students. Soon after the exam began, the accused started sending answer keys to the nine students from whom they had allegedly taken Rs 15-20 lakh each. For students with phones, answer keys were sent through WhatsApp, and for those using the earpieces, they were passed on through phone calls.”

Police are also investigating at least nine candidates who allegedly paid the gang around Rs 15-20 lakh for the “help” in their bid to become doctors.

Police said the “engineered vests” and keys to the 90 questions were recovered from the four accused who were produced in a Rohtak court on Monday – they were sent to police custody for four days for further interrogation.

”So far, we have received a list of nine students who appeared in the AIPMT exams by allegedly paying money to the accused. Raids are being conducted to nab all those involved,” Jadhav said.

”We have also sent teams to nab those who sold these vests to the accused. Each vest was purchased by the accused at a cost of approximately Rs 9,000 each,” he added.

Police also suspect that at least one of the accused – Ravi, the MBBS student – may have resorted to similar means to pass his own medical entrance test.

”He undertook pre-test PMT coaching from an institute in Kota, Rajasthan in 2005-06 and got through the exam in 2007. But after eight years, he is still in the second year. It appears from interrogation that he might have got through the exam using unfair means,” the investigating officer said.

As for Dangi, the alleged “kingpin”, police said he is a Meham resident who operates from Alwar in Rajasthan. They believe that he allegedly procured and supplied the answer keys to the four accused.

During their interrogation, police said, the accused also claimed that the shop from where they purchased the vests had sold 700 such units in Bihar. “There could be a possibility that the magnitude of this racket is much larger in Bihar and Rajasthan,” Jadhav said.

News Sources @ http://indianexpress.com/article/india/india-others/90-aipmt-answer-keys-leaked-students-get-answers-via-bluetooth-vests/