CBI registers case in AIIMS paper leak; carries out searches

New Delhi: The CBI registered a case to look into the alleged copying of question paper for the AIIMS MBBS entrance examination conducted on May 28 and also carried out searches at seven locations in the country. The Central Bureau of Investigation sources said the searches took place at one place in Bagaha, Bihar and at six places in Ghaziabad including the HRIT campus in Morta area of Ghaziabad. The premier investigation agency has seized digital evidence in connection with the case.

The case has been registered on a complaint from the All India Institute of Medical Sciences that snapshots of its MBBS entrance examination had made it to social media. Whistleblower of Vyapam scam, Anand Rai, in a series of tweets, posted images of question papers of the entrance examination. He claimed to have received the question paper screenshots from a source who said these were leaked from a college in Lucknow when the online test was on.

A committee constituted by AIIMS to look into the issue rejected the allegations of question paper leak and recommended a probe by the central agency. “The CBI is investigating the matter now and they have also carried out raids in this connection. They have carried out raids at a centre in Ghaziabad apart from a couple of places in other states,” a top source in the know said.

The findings of the committee suggested a candidate indulged in cheating with the help of officials of a particular centre in Uttar Pradesh. “It seems the candidate indulged in cheating by smuggling in a camera at the examination centre,” the source said. The candidate has already been identified and his results have been withheld by the institute, he added. However, he declined to divulge any more details about the candidate or the centre.

AIIMS declared the results of its MBBS online entrance test. Over 2.84 lakh candidates had appeared for the examination, out of which 4,905 have qualified and are eligible for counselling session in AIIMS. Interestingly, the first 10 toppers are from the same coaching institute in Kota. Rai had also tagged the Prime Minister’s Office in his tweet and sought a CBI enquiry into the issue.