Entrance exam scam: Anantnag resident held for buying question paper

Farooq Ahmad Shah, resident of south Kashmir's Anantnag district, was arrested on Tuesday by the state's crime branch in connection with the alleged Common Entrance Test (CET) question paper leak scandal. He allegedly purchased the question papers of the examination, conducted by the Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE), for his son.

Farooq Ahmad Shah, resident of south Kashmir's Anantnag district, was arrested on Tuesday by the state's crime branch in connection with the alleged Common Entrance Test (CET) question paper leak scandal.

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He allegedly purchased the question papers of the examination, conducted by the Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE), for his son.

"We have arrested Shah as we had evidence against him,"

crime branch inspector general of police Javed Mujtaba Gilani told PTI.

Former chairman of the board Mushtaq Ahmad Peer, the prime suspect in the scam, was arrested by police on November 23 and is currently in judicial custody.

Shah, whose name surfaced during questioning of accused in the scam, is believed to have purchased the papers against `15 lakh from one of the co-accused in the scam.

The crime branch started investigation into the scam after a written complaint that 12 students had qualified for the CET-2012 examination by purchasing question papers from a syndicate, including some officials close to Peer, the then chairman of the board, received earlier this year.

According to the complaint, the students, mostly from Anantnag, had benefited from the scam and got admission in various professional colleges of the state.

Police earlier had also arrested Sajad Ahmad Sofi, who was allegedly acting as a broker between the board official and clients for question papers.

The IG said investigation was on and refused to divulge any more details.