NSUI members protesting over alleged IIT-JEE fraud case arrested by Delhi police

The members of the National Students' Union of India (NSUI) have been detained by the Delhi Police on Monday outside the residence of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan. The students were detained as they were protesting over an alleged IIT-JEE (Mains) 2021 fraud. The student protestors reportedly raised slogans against both the Education Minister and the Central Government led by the BJP.

On September 2, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) initiated raids at 20 locations across the country as they were informed of alleged irregularities being committed by a private coaching institute in the JEE (Mains) Exam 2021. As a result, the CBI arrested seven people from a single private consultancy company as they were allegedly charging Rs 15 lakh per student to guarantee seats in the top engineering institutes of the country.

Due to this incident, the online examination system used for evaluating a student's capabilities through a JEE exam has come under scrutiny. The test is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) and must be looking for ways to avoid such means of cheating used by candidates to get better scores. The accused consultants allegedly had direct contact with the elite entrance exam JEE(Main) 2021, Session-4 Exam centres at Sonipat. It is reported that they colluded with them and made necessary arrangements for fraudulent practices during the exams. They were then helping the students during the exam by having remote access to the system used by their clients.

Directors, employees taken into CBI custody

The firm in question is Affinity Education, which offers career advice to students and helps them apply to universities in India and abroad. A CBI court has sent the firm’s directors Siddharth Krishna and Vishambar Mani Tripathi, and an employee, Hritik Singh, to CBI custody until September 9 in connection with the alleged irregularities in the JEE mains exam. While searching the company offices in Delhi, Pune, Jamshedpur, Indore and Bengaluru, CBI seized several laptops, personal computers, transaction histories and multiple documents like provisional degree certificates of students. Others who were also taken in custody will be tried in front of a magistrate later.

(With ANI inputs)

Image Credit: ANI