CBI searches 19 places in connection with alleged manipulation of 2021 JEE (Mains) exam

New Delhi: The CBI on Thursday carried out searches at 19 locations in connection with alleged manipulation of the 2021 JEE (Mains) examination by a private institute, Affinity Education Private Limited, and its directors, officials said.

After registering the case on Wednesday, the agency waited for the examination to get over on Thursday before launching the searches. The prestigious JEE (Mains) examination is a stepping stone for admissions into IITs and NITs.

The CBI teams swooped down at 19 locations in Delhi and NCR, Pune, Jamshedpur, Indore and Bangalore, they said.

”The searches led to the recovery of 25 laptops, seven PCs, around 30 post-dated cheques along with voluminous incriminating documents/devices, including PDC’s marksheet of different students,” CBI Spokesperson RC Joshi said.

The agency’s action came after the registration of a case against Affinity Education and its three directors, Siddharth Krishna, Vishwambhar Mani Tripathi and Govind Varshney, besides other touts and associates.

It was alleged that the directors, in conspiracy with other associates and touts, were ”manipulating the online examination of JEE (Mains) and facilitating aspiring students to get admission into top NITs in consideration of huge amounts by solving the applicant’s question paper through remote access from a chosen examination centre in Sonepat (Haryana),” Joshi said.

It was also alleged that the accused used to obtain as security aspiring students’ marksheets of classes 10 and 12, user IDs, passwords, and post-dated cheques, and once the admission was done, they used to collect heavy amounts ranging from Rs 12-15 lakh per candidate across the country, he said.

”Several people are being questioned and the investigation is continuing,” he said.