Mass cheating racket busted in Aligarh, 62 arrested
Stringent anti-cheating measures in the UP boards have made 10L students skip the exams, but frauds are still managing to operate. Police in Atrauli yesterday busted a gang of 62 "proxies" who were solving a Class 12 paper in a nearby house as students sat with answer sheets in the exam hall. Among them was a 70-year-old man, writing the paper for his grandson.
How did the racket work?
According to the arrangement at Bhorey Kishan Lal Sharma Inter-College, proxies would write the paper for students in lieu of an amount. Most got Rs. 2,000-3,000 per exam. In the end, their completed answer sheets would be swapped with the students' sheets. In the meantime, students would sit in the exam hall and write their papers so CCTV cameras captured normal goings-on.
Mastermind had "contracts" for mass cheating in 19 colleges
Police found the racket runs much deeper. The mastermind, Ram Sharma, was allegedly running a cheating mafia in 19 private colleges in Aligarh district. Sharma owns several colleges, while his brother Lakhan works at the district inspector of schools (DIOS) office. DIOS Dharmendra Sharma said Atrauli is the "cheating hub" of Aligarh. Out of 1.86L board candidates from Aligarh, 1.03 appeared from Atrauli.
Exam likely to be held again for that center
The 62 people have been booked under IPC Section 419 (cheating by personation) and relevant sections of the Anti-Copying Act. Lakhan Sarma has been relieved of exam duties. The college will be debarred as an exam center, Dharmendra Sharma said. He has also proposed re-examination for that center. If his recommendation is approved, about 290 students will have to appear for the paper again.
