PATNA: When it comes to job descriptions, the versatility of a 'handler' is no longer limited to airport cargo, police dog units, political campaigns or even spy rings.
Investigators unraveling the conspiracy behind the NEET-UG exam question leak case have realised how “middlemen” operate in the murky realm of a countrywide exam scam that has its origins in Bihar and Jharkhand.
“The nine officials arrested so far in the NEET-UG case — six from Jharkhand and three from Bihar — are tech-savvy people who played key roles in orchestrating the leak of question papers, training candidates who had paid the exam fee to memorise the answers and escorting them to the respective exam centres,” a senior police officer said.
The six handlers arrested in Deogarh, Jharkhand, were posing as labourers and living in rented accommodation, and their job was to ensure that the leaked documents reached their recipients in secrecy and anonymity.
“Once one inspection is completed, they start work on identifying flaws in the system for the next inspection,” the officer said.
To expand their customer base, these operators look for opportunities to connect with coaching centers, schools, and colleges on any pretext. They track down individuals related to the examination process and try to bribe them to get lucrative information.
Acting on a tip-off, Bihar Police raided the hideout on the morning of the NEET-UG exam on May 5 and found evidence that the agents had gathered around 30 candidates at this meeting point in Ram Krishna Nagar, on the outskirts of Patna, the night before the exam.
“The candidates were there throughout the night to memorise the answers from the leaked question paper. Later, the officials transported them to the exam centre in a private vehicle, taking all necessary precautions to ensure their safety,” a police officer said.
Online applications for entrance exams were introduced nationwide around 2010, replacing the previous method of submitting applications by post. The old system had loopholes that fraudsters and corrupt officials could easily exploit.
“Before the online form was introduced, exam authorities used to assign candidate numbers based on the time when they received the application envelope. Criminals were misusing this system by sending multiple applications in one envelope, representing candidates and their representatives with codes like 'bogie' and 'engine' respectively,” said a senior Bihar IPS officer.
“This strategy ensured that all candidates were assigned the same exam centre and exam hall number, making cheating easy.”
Another senior IPS officer said the leaking of documents could happen at various stages right from when they are compiled to when they are stored in bank vaults before being transported to the exam centre.
He said previous cheating practices included replacing candidates with proxies at the exam centre after videotaping and later tampering with the Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) sheets. “It is a new trend where instructors will gather candidates at one place and make them memorise the answers under their guidance. This is to eliminate paper trails.”
Vishal Kumar, an IPS officer from the Economic Offences Unit (EOU), who was investigating the NEET-UG document leak case in Bihar, said there were three big gangs operating in the state, one of which is believed to be led by Ranjit Kumar Singh (alias Ranjit Don), who is accused of masterminding several document leak cases before entering politics.
