A Russian national was arrested by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) over his alleged role in tampering the software of the JEE Mains 2021 examination.
The foreigner, identified as Mikhail Shargin, was interrogated by agency slueths after being picked up from the Bureau of Immigration at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi where he was detained on arrival from Almaty, Kazakhstan.
A press statement said during investigation, it came to light that some foreign nationals were involved in compromising many online examinations, including JEE (Mains). “Role of one Russian national was revealed who had allegedly tampered with the iLeon software (the platform on which the JEE(Main)-2021 examination was conducted) and that he helped other accused in hacking the computer systems of suspect candidates during the examination,” the statement added.
A lookout notice (LOC) against the man was issued by the CBI. The CBI was alerted by central agencies when the Russian national arrived at the airport from abroad, they said.
A PTI report said in September last year, the premier investigating 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.
The three directors, in conspiracy with other associates and touts, were allegdly 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).
Searches were conducted at several 19 places earlier, including Delhi, Pune, Indore, Bangalore and Jamshedpur, and officers had seized 25 laptops, 30 post-dated cheques, several personal computers and other incriminating documents and devices.