JEE (Mains) 2021 exam manipulation case: Delhi HC sends Russian national to CBI custody

The Delhi High Court today, October 4, sent a Russian national to two-day CBI custody. The Russian national was arrested for allegedly manipulating JEE (Mains) examination last year. 
The accused was sent to CBI custody till October 6 by Duty Magistrate Vaibhav Mehta after the agency requested for his remand to unravel the conspiracy.

“This court is of the view that to carry out an investigation. PC (police custody) remand of the accused is necessary and so this court partly allows the application moved by the IO and grants police custody remand of the accused for two days only,” the judge said, as reported by PTI.

The CBI stated in its application, which sought five-day custody of the accused, that he will be questioned about the data on his phone, laptop and external hard drive.

Held immediately after his arrival 
The central agency issued a 'Look Out Circular' against Shargin, who is suspected of being the principal hacker, for alleged manipulation of this examination, said the PTI report. The CBI stated that it was notified by the Bureau of Immigration when Shargin, the accused, landed at the airport from Almaty, Kazakhstan and he was held immediately upon his arrival in New Delhi on Monday, October 3. 

The CBI said, "During the investigation, it came to light that some foreign nationals were involved in compromising many online examinations, including JEE (Mains), colluding with other accused in the instant case.”

How was the plan executed by the accused?
The investigation shows that the accused, Shargin, tampered with the software iLeon, the platform which is used to conduct the JEE (Mains) 2021 examination, and the accused also helped others hack into the computers of the suspected candidates during the examination, said the CBI.

The agency had arrested Affinity Education and its three directors, Siddharth Krishna, Vishwambhar Mani Tripathi and Govind Varshney, as well as several touts and associates, in September last year for alleged test manipulation.

It was claimed that the three directors conspired with other colleagues and attempted to manipulate the online JEE (Mains) examination and help hopeful students gain admission to major National Institutes of Technology (NITs) in exchange for large sums of money. They used to answer the questions remotely from a specified test centre in Sonepat, Haryana.

"It was also alleged that the accused used to obtain class 10 and 12 mark sheets, user IDs, passwords, and post-dated cheques of aspiring students in different parts of the country as security and once admission was done, they used to collect heavy amount ranging from 12-15 lakh (approx) per candidate," the CBI said.