Two arrested in COMEDK-test racket

Central Crime Branch sleuths on Tuesday arrested two persons who were allegedly arranging proxy candidates for aspiring medical students taking the COMEDK undergraduate entrance test.

The two, along with seven students, were arrested from Sheetal Lodge in Majestic area. The police raided the lodge following information they got from 28 students who were arrested at the Kempegowda International Airport (KIA) on Sunday and Monday.

The arrested students are said to be pursuing medical courses in various places in Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Jharkhand.

According to a top police official, Priyadarshan alias Prince, helped in arranging proxy candidates, who are actually students pursuing medicine in various colleges across the country.

 His accomplice, Ajith Mondal, arranged travel, lodging and other facilities for these students. Both are said to be based in Bangalore.

The two have confessed that they have been operating for several years and were involved in a similar scam that came to light in 2013. Priyadarshan used to visit different medical colleges in the country and lure poor students with money, to write the COMED-K entrance exam on behalf of others. He would offer Rs 20,000 to Rs 50,000 to each student, a police source told Deccan Herald.

Abhishek Goyal, DCP (Crime), said, “It is a serious issue and these arrests have led us to a big racket in the field of higher education. The vital clues will help us in nabbing more people involved in it.” The accused have been booked on charges of impersonation, forgery, cheating and criminal conspiracy.

When contacted, COMEDK Chief Executive A S Srikanth said, “COMEDK is committed to cooperate with the investigation. If our inputs are required at any point, we will definitely cooperate. As far as last year’s case is concerned, we have not received any information from the police about it.”