A day after Crime Branch of Jammu and Kashmir Police raided the houses of former Chairman, Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE), Mushtaq Ahmed Peer, in Kashmir and Jammu in connection with Common Entrance Test 2012 paper selling scam, aspirants and their parents have appealed the authorities to punish those responsible for spoiling the career of hard-working students. Sources in the Crime Branch said that at least six persons including Mushtaq Ahmad Peer would be arrested in a day or two. “We are collecting the evidence and arrests are on cards,” sources said. Meanwhile, sleuths of Crime Branch have arrested an accused Sajid Hussain while another accused, Farooq Ahmed Itoo, has turned an approver. Crime Branch officials told news agency CNS that the information provided by the approver has proved very useful and they have seized important documents pertaining to the case. BOPEE had come under scanner as the results of Common Entrance Test 2012, for MBBS and other courses, declared that year in June had come as a shock to many with aspirants and parents questioning its credibility. During investigations, it has come to fore that the then BOPEE chairman Mushtaq Ahmed Peer allegedly sold CET papers for Rs 65 lakhs to two brokers, Sajid Hussain and Farooq Ahmed, who in turn fetched Rs 5 crores from parents of several students. There are reports that parents of some students sold their land to arrange the money. Interestingly, Mushtaq Peer was given extension by the present government after his retirement and later also re- employed as an ‘Expert’ in Services Selection Board. Following the Crime Branch raid on his houses yesterday, the government, according to sources, terminated the services of Mushtaq Peer as Consultant to fast-track non-gazetted cadre recruitments in the Service Selection Board. In December 2012, Peer was appointed as the Consultant for two years and tasked to render “expert guidance regarding IT applications and computerization besides conducting tests for recruitment to non-gazetted and Class-IV posts through SSB.” Sources said the brokers, in league with BOPEE Chairman and a ‘lady’ had sold the entrance examination papers ahead of the test to dozens of students, majority of whom belong to South Kashmir. “Their network was very strong. The accused called the parents and aspirants to a hotel at Boulevard Road Srinagar to solve entrance papers with the help of experts,” a Crime Branch official said. Another Crime Branch official, on condition of anonymity, told CNS that during the raid on the houses of former BOPEE Chairman at Professors Colony Hazratbal and Sidhra Jammu, sleuths recovered some important documents. “During the raid we recovered documents pertaining to land comprising 10 kanals and 4 marlas in Ganderbal and two flats in Jammu and one flat in New Delhi. We are thoroughly investigating the matter and in near future more arrests are expected,” he said, adding that Peer managed to give a slip to the CB sleuths when they raided his Hazratbal residence. CB official said the sleuths are looking for other accused which include Haroon Rashid resident of Dyalgam Anantnag and Ali Muhammad Mir of Kennelwan Bijbehara. “We have registered an FIR vide number 24/2013 and so far we have questioned 15 students and 10 parents and initial investigation has identified at least 24 beneficiaries,” a CB official said. In-charge Superintendent of Police, Crime Branch, Bashir Ahmed confirmed to CNS that documents pertaining to land and flats in Ganderbal, Jammu and Delhi belonging to former BOPEE Chairman have been seized. “We are probing the matter speedily and guilty will not be spared,” he said. Sources said that former BOPEE Chairman has also purchased a huge chunk of land in tourist resort Pahalgam. “We have not found any documents yet pertaining to Pahalgam land,” a Crime Branch official said. The sources also said that the Crime Branch would also look as to why the term of Mushtaq Ahmed Peer as BOPEE Chairman was extended. “Without the consent of higher ups in the government, such things can’t happen,” they said. Sources said that owner of a computer institute in South Kashmir’s Bijbehara town, Farooq Ahmed Itoo, who is at present acting as an approver and helping CB to nail down all the accused, is believed to be the actual broker in this scam. He is also believed to be instrumental in the purchase and sale of question papers. Highly placed sources told CNS that Farooq Ahmed Itoo was close to Mushtaq Peer and his wife who was a member of Service Selection Board. Another broker, Ali Muhammad Rather, who is a retired teacher, has supposedly amassed huge wealth. Sources said that this retired teacher from South Kashmir’s Kannelwan area has helped his relatives to qualify the entrance examination. Most of the candidates who got benefitted from this racket are from South Kashmir and the main kingpin allegedly involved in this scandal also belongs to the same area. Scores of angered candidates are complaining that the entire process of selection was mala fide. “We had openly challenged the genuineness of the merit list,” one of the angry parents told CNS. The allegations appear to carry weight as the merit list carried names of many with higher ranks whose performance in Matric and +2 examinations had remained unsatisfactory and below par. Aspersions are being cast on many ‘successful candidates’ as they are otherwise widely known to be underachievers. The delegation of aggrieved candidates alleged that one Mir Hina Saleem from Chee, Ananntnag, under roll no. 123388 getting 36th rank had previously failed even in class 10 examination as a regular student, subsequently she passed it in third division as a private candidate and later passed her class 12 examination in third attempt. Besides, 4 candidates from and around a single village of Kannelwan Bijbehara are among the toppers. Another ‘successful candidate’ Mir Wajid Majid under roll no. 131184 who secured first rank in CET 2012 is looked upon with suspicion as his sister Mir Danish Majid with 17th rank, his cousin Sadam Farooq from Munghal village of Anantnag ranking 5th is reportedly connected with a network of two more candidates Hovura Zahoor having 111 rank and Sheikh Bargees Ismail having 36th rank are alleged to have also benefitted from the racket. A male candidate from Damhal, Ahmad Faraz under roll no. 130256 ranks at 30th slot and a female candidate Amira Shakeel from Mahend ranks at 25th under no. 122222 despite the fact that both are under-achievers. The candidates are demanding that an impartial probe be ordered into the CET 2012 by the State government. The Crime Branch is all set to arrest at least half a dozen people in two to three days and efforts have been started to the seize the answer scripts of the beneficiaries which were written at a local hotel here. “Contact had been established with BOPEE authorities and hopefully we will get the answer scripts,” sources said, adding a trap has also been laid in BOPEE office so that attempts to tamper with crucial evidence are foiled. “Investigations are in full swing,” Inspector General of Police, Crime, Javid Mujtaba Gilani, who is supervising the probe, told Greater Kashmir. “Disclosures at this point of time will hamper the investigations but the case will be solved soon. Facts will come in public,” he added. Sources revealed that at least four students, who have benefited from the racket, have been questioned. “More students would be questioned to make the investigations water-tight,” they said. The gravity of the racket can be assessed from the fact that many students commit or attempt suicide every year after failing in CET and the accused have played with the lives of innumerable hard-working students. (CNS, with inputs from Shabir Ibn Yousuf)
Posted on: Wed, 20 Nov 2013 02:34:51 +0000
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