Student caught at Kandivli college booked

While the first FIR was registered on April 5 at Navghar police station against three students caught at Bhayander’s Abhinav College, the second one was registered against the student caught at Kandivli’s Nirmala Memorial College.

A first information report (FIR) has been registered at the Samta Nagar police station in Kandivli (East) on Thursday against a fourth student caught with the answers to some of the third-year bachelor of commerce (TYBCom) exam questions. The answers were being circulated on an online messaging group ahead of the exam.

Student caught at Kandivli college booked

While the first FIR was registered on April 5 at Navghar police station against three students caught at Bhayander’s Abhinav College, the second one was registered against the student caught at Kandivli’s Nirmala Memorial College.

Senior police inspector Raju Kasbe of Samta Nagar police station confirmed that they had booked the student. The FIR has been registered under relevant sections of the Maharashtra Prevention of Malpractices at University, Board and Other Specified Examinations Act, 1982 and the Information Technology Act, 2000. The University of Mumbai (MU) on Thursday put together an expert committee consisting of three members, to visit both colleges and collect facts of the case.

“An inquiry into the matter will be a separate subject but for the time being, we need to make sure we have all the information to build a strong case,” said a committee member.

The issue came to light on April 5, when TYBCom students were appearing for their Semester VI final examinations. Officials from both, Abhinav College and Nirmala Memorial Foundation College, caught the students with their mobile phones before the examination commenced. They found solutions to some of the questions from the paper being shared on a chat group.

“We immediately confiscated the phone and once the exam was over, we took the student to the police station,” said an official from Nirmala College.

The university has also sent screenshots of the solutions found on the phones, to the Board of Studies (BoS) of those particular subjects. “The BoS can confirm if the solutions found on the mobile phones match the question paper or not,” said Vinod Malale, deputy registrar (public relations), MU.