Four arrested in AIIMS paper leak

New Delhi: Four people were arrested in connection with the paper leak case of the All India Post-Graduate Medical Entrance Examination (AIPGMEE), conducted by the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) for 2006.

The arrests came when the CBI conducted country-wide raids at more than 41 places across Uttar Pradesh, Pondicherry, Tamil Nadu and Delhi. The arrested include two doctors from Pondicherry and one from Madurai.

Searches and subsequent examination of the suspected doctors revealed that they had collected upto Rs 10 lakh from each candidate.

On the modus-operandi, the CBI said the question papers from the examination hall were taken out and answers sent through SMS to the entrance test candidates.

''Investigations also revealed that candidates had arranged cell phones on the day of the examination for receiving answers through SMS on their cell phones,'' the CBI added.

Evidence of money changing hands and receipts taken from doctors who had organised the entire operation were also found in the raids.

A case was registered two days back on the complaint of the Union Health and Family Welfare Ministry after the reported malpractices in such a prestigious examination surfaced.

During preliminary enquiry, it was found that out of the 1,006 seats, 424 candidates had been selected from Chennai centre alone. Also, in the list of first 100 candidates, 37 figured from the Chennai Centre.

The CBI had registered two cases on March 27 under different sections of the IPC for cheating, forgery and under the Prevention of Corruption Act against 28 suspected doctors.

Out of the two cases, one was registered in Chennai against 22 doctors and unknown public servants and searches were conducted in Chennai, Erode, Madurai, Dindigul, Cuddalore, Kanyakumari, Salem, Villupuram, Perambalur, Pudukottai, Namakkal, Tuticorin and Pondicherry on Wednesday.

The other case was registered in Delhi against six doctors (candidates in the entrance test) and unknown public servants. In this connection, searches were conducted at six places in Delhi.

(With agency inputs)