JEE-Mains exam manipulation case: The CBI on Monday arrested a Russian national in connection with its probe into alleged manipulation of JEE (Mains) examination last year, officials said. The central agency had issued a 'Look Out Circular' against Mikhail Shargin, suspected to be main hacker, for alleged manipulation of the prestigious examination, they said.
Sources said the accused, identified as Mikhail Shargin, was the main hacker in the case. He was trying to leave the country but was nabbed at the airport.
The probing agency is questioning the accused in an on-going investigation of a case related to allegations of irregularities being committed in the JEE (Mains) Exams 2021.
During the investigation, it came to light that some foreign nationals were involved in compromising many online examinations including JEE (Mains) colluding with other accused.
The role of one Russian national was revealed who had allegedly tampered with the iLeon software (the platform on which the JEE(Main)-2021 examination was conducted) and that he helped other accused in hacking the computer systems of suspect candidates during the examination.
Therefore, a Look Out Circular was issued against the said Russian National.
A case was registered on September 1, 2021, against a private company and others including its directors & three employees, private persons (conduits) etc on the allegations of irregularities being committed in the ongoing JEE (Mains) Exams 2021 by a private educational institution, its directors, their touts/associates & staff posted at the examination centre & other unknown persons.
It was further alleged that the said company and its directors were manipulating the online examination of JEE (Mains) and facilitating aspiring students to get admission in top NITs in consideration of huge amount by solving the question paper of the applicant through remote access from a chosen examination centre in Sonepat (Haryana).
It was also alleged that the accused used to obtain Xth and XIIth mark sheets, the User IDs, Passwords, and Post Dated Cheques of aspiring students in different parts of country as security and once admission was done, they used to collect heavy amount ranging from 12-15 Lakh (approx) per candidate.
Searches were earlier conducted on September 2, 2021 at 19 places including at Delhi & NCR, Pune, Jamshedpur, Indore & Bangalore which led to the recovery of 25 Laptops, 7 PCs, around 30 Post-Dated Cheques along with voluminous incriminating documents/ devices including PDC’s mark sheet of different students.
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