Based on inputs, the Uttar Pradesh STF raided a computer lab located inside the Law department at a private university in Meerut when the online CSIR-NET exam was being conducted.
CSIR-NET Paper Leak: Seven members of a ‘solver gang’ who allegedly helped some candidates to cheat in the CSIR-NET examination held Friday in Uttar Pradesh, have been arrested by a Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police, officials said Saturday.
According to an official statement, the STF raided a computer lab located inside the Law department at a private university in Meerut when the online CSIR-NET exam was being conducted.
Officials said a computer lab at the Subharti University was being used as the base of operation by the solvers who used remote access software to help candidates cheat during the CSIR-NET examination and charged a huge sum of money for their ‘services’.
4 candidates among 7 arrested
The lab was raided by the probe team following a tip-off and seven members of the gang, including four candidates identified as Ankit, Tamanna, Monica Kumar, and Jyoti, were arrested, they said, adding that two officials from varsity– Vineet Kumar, the computer lab assistant, and IT manager Arun Sharma, have also been taken into custody.
Ankur Saini, deployed as the server operator at the university by the NSEIT which conducted the exam, is the other accused in the case and has been arrested, the STF said, adding the accused charged a large amount of money from the accused candidates for helping them cheat in the test.
During the raid, one laptop, five CPUs, two pendrives, two CSIR NET exam admit cards, four mobile phones and other documents, including three Aadhar cards and two PAN cards were seized by the investigation team, they said.
Modded PC, Remote access software; How the solver gang operated
According to the STF, Arun Sharma, the IT manager, had a modified PC in his room which was connected the exam lab’s closed network while lab assistant Vineet Kumar helped extract the server details of the cheating candidates, and used remote access software to forward these to man named Ajay who then employed ‘solvers’ to solve the questions posed in the exam, the answers of which were then shared with the accused candidates.
In order to avoid detection during inspections by invigilators during the CSIR-NET exam, Arun sent a ‘STOP’ message to Vineet, signalling him to halt the operation while the inspection was underway, the STF probe revealed.
