CBI carries out searches in multiple cities in connection with JEE-21 manipulation case

NEW DELHI: The CBI on Saturday conducted searches at 19 locations in multiple cities, including Delhi and NCR, in connection with alleged manipulation of JEE (Mains) examination held in 2021, officials said.

Besides Delhi, the searches were spread across Pune, Jamshedpur, Indore and Bangalore. As many as 25 laptops, seven desktops, around 30 post-dated cheques along with voluminous “incriminating” documents and devices including provisional degree certificate (PDC) mark sheets of different students, they said.

“Several persons are being questioned. The investigation is continuing,” a CBI spokesperson said.

In September 2021, the agency had booked Affinity Education Pvt Ltd and its three directors, Siddharth Krishna, Vishwambhar Mani Tripathi and Govind Varshney, besides other touts and associates, for alleged manipulation of examination.

It was alleged that the three 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 National Institutes of Technology in consideration of huge amounts by solving the applicants’ question papers through remote access from a chosen examination centre in Sonepat (Haryana).

“It was also alleged that the accused used to obtain class 10 and 12 mark sheets, user IDs, passwords, and post-dated cheques of aspiring students in different parts of the country as security and once admission was done, they used to collect heavy amount ranging from 12-15 lakh (approx) per candidate,” the spokesperson said. (PTI)