Assam JEE topper arrested for allegedly using proxy for exam

Guwahati Police has arrested the Assam topper of the Joint Entrance Exam (JEE), along with his father and three others, for allegedly using a proxy to write the exam. The candidate, Neel Nakshatra Das, had scored 99.8% in the JEE Mains, which serves as the basis for admission to India’s premier engineering colleges, including the IITs.

An FIR lodged by Mitradev Sharma at the Azara police station in Guwahati alleged that the candidate had not even appeared for the test held on 5 September. Neel Nakshatra Das has been arrested along with his father, Dr Jyotirmoy Das, and three employees of a testing facility, Hamendra Nath Sarma, Pranjal Kalita and Hirulal Pathak. They will be produced in a local court on Thursday.

“The complaint was filed on October 23. The FIR alleges the candidate used a proxy to appear for the test on his behalf. We have constituted a special investigation team to probe the allegations,” said Suprotiv Lal Baruah, Additional DCP (West), Guwahati.

The complaint reported that Das had been scheduled to appear for the test at a centre in Borjhar, but after completing the biometric attendance formalities, he exited the exam hall with the help of the invigilator, after which someone else wrote the test on his behalf. Guwahati Police Commissioner, MP Gupta, has affirmed this allegation, saying, “We have investigated the case and found that a proxy was used by the candidate with help from an agency that acted as a middleman.”

“The matter came to light after the candidate reportedly admitted this during a phone call, which was recorded,” said Baruah. The police have gotten in touch with the National Testing Agency, which conducts the JEE across India, and sought data to help them further with their investigation. “As of now, we haven’t come across any other case of misrepresentation during the test,” added Baruah.

The complainant has also alleged that Das’s parents, both of whom are practising doctors, paid a sum of Rs 15-20 lakhs to a private coaching institute in Guwahati to carry out this crime.