GUWAHATI: Involvement of examination department officials in the cash-for-marks scam in Assam Down Town University has come to the fore with the deputy controller of examination being arrested recently by the police.
With the ongoing police investigation, new aspects have been revealed in connection with the case. They point towards deeper irregularities at the university with respect to the conduct of examinations.
“We have observed anomalies and discrepancies in the conduct of examinations as well as the declaration of results at the university,” Purabi Mazumdar, ACP Noonmati police station informed G Plus.
This also hints towards a possible nexus between the university officials or staff members and former students who are involved in the scam.
The deputy controller of examination, Arupjyoti Sharma was arrested from Noonmati earlier this week.
“We produced him before the court on Wednesday and we have brought him on three days’ police remand,” added Mazumdar.
Officials informed that they now have sufficient evidence to establish that some of the students were collecting money for clearing their backlogs.
The matter first came to light when the administrative legal officer of the university filed a complaint with the Panikhaiti police station on June 25 stating that they suspected the involvement of some faculty members in taking money from students on the pretext of ensuring them pass marks in their examinations.
Before this, the police had apprehended one former student of the university as well as a teacher in connection with the case. One of the accused is a faculty member named Gunajit Choudhury while the other is a former student named Jal Nuruddin Ahmed who passed out of the university in 2015.
Nuruddin was arrested on June 29 from Barpeta while Choudhury was arrested on July 4. Ahmed was a student of Choudhary, which is how the two came in touch with each other and remained so after Ahmed passed out of the university too.
Police added that the scam was going on since 2012 and the modus operandi of the persons involved in the scam was primarily first identifying students who were academically weak and then luring them into paying up by assuring passing marks in their examinations in various subjects. Further, those involved lured most students through the social networking site Facebook.
Additionally, the arrested accused, Jal Nuruddin, revealed during interrogation that some students paid Rs 5,000 while the others were charged Rs 10,000. In some cases, the students were asked to shell out as much as Rs 22,000, said police.
On the other hand, authorities at the Down Town University said that they first came to know about the scam when a student tipped them off about a possible nexus of students and teachers involved in the same.
Interestingly, the police also revealed that while interacting with a few students who had paid money to clear their backlog, they observed that many students had not cleared their examinations even after giving money.
“We suspect that there are some unscrupulous elements from among the faculty members who are also involved in the scam and former students who already knew that this was going on. For instance, Jhal Muruddin, was already aware that something like this was ongoing, which is why he had established a network with one or two faculty members so that he could lure students to give money,” informed a source in the police.
Officials further said that the deputy controller of examinations who was arrested too had some responsibility and can’t say that he was totally unaware about the ongoing incidents, particularly when he is one of the persons whose signature is required on every important examination-related document.
“We are in the initial stage of investigation and are probing all possible angles. Let us see what else comes out in the future,” said Mazumdar.