Desperate students, coaching centers, agents, 'solvers' and a kingpin- all of these factors are common to every case of exam paper leak that has recently been reported.
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New Delhi: It may be national level entrance exams like pen and paper-based NEET or a computer-based test like JEE that promise admission to leading medical and engineering institutes respectively. Or it may be a test to recruit 2nd grade teachers in Rajasthan or even the UP Police constable recruitment exam.
Widely different exams and yet they all have something in common.
It is the 'food chain' traced back by investigative agencies which is near identical in all cases of exam leaks so far- desperate students, coaching centers, agents, 'solvers' and a kingpin- all looking for the weakest link.
FOOD CHAIN "There are the kingpins at the top and there are several nowadays. He has his agents who are on the lookout. And their natural habitat is the coaching center which offers a diverse catchment of students and candidates- all desperate to crack that exam which promises a secure, well-paying career ahead. The rest is taken care of by expert 'solvers'- often the products of some of the coaching centres as well. This is the food chain to almost every exam leak investigated by us so far", a top official from the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force who has closely tracked several exam leak cases told ET on condition of anonymity.
"Most important in the food chain is the money. There is a king's ransom to be earned by every single exam leak which has spawned several such gangs across the heartland and even beyond. The latest NEET-UG leak itself is worth hundreds of crores with just 1-2 sets of paper leak. The huge money involved and the desperation or readiness of some candidates is the fuel of this industry which has only grown due to the demand supply mismatch", the official added.
The money and skill set required explains the diverse and mostly educated set which is found involved in the 'exam leak' rings stretching across the heartland but with tentacles from Maharashtra to Telangana.
IN ACTION "The Modus operandi is simple once the weakest link is found- it could be a peon or a supervisor or sometimes even principals at an exam centre or someone in the printing press where the paper is printed. Once this is achieved, the paper stands compromised. The leak is planned 8-10 days before the exam and the deal is done in stages with some money exchanged, certificates of candidates taken in as collateral and a compromised exam centre chosen. The final deal happens hours before the exam", an official well versed with 'exam gang' investigations explained.
The pen and paper based exam leak is, in fact, well tested by now- usually involving a secretly photographed paper set that is often leaked either a day before the exam or sometimes even 1-2 hours before the exam to select candidates.
This is exactly what happened in the NEET-UG Bihar case this year when students are said to have been taken around in cars to a school where expert 'solvers' helped them memorise most answers. It is this 'car-ferrying' which alerted cops.
The same script has played out across several exams and across states.
Government insiders told ET that it is also a misconception that only paper-pen tests are vulnerable to leaks.
"Many believe that the computer-based test is above leaks. That is simply not true. In fact, it may even be more vulnerable. Take the case of a national level exam like JEE Main of 2021 which was hacked at a Haryana centre with the help of a Russian expert. This is despite the fact that the National Testing Agency (NTA) which conducts the JEE Main has a specific protocol deploying observers to closely look at candidate's test screens and keyboard movements in a computer based test", an official well versed with the JEE Main 2021 case told ET.
The ongoing CBI probe in the alleged JEE Main 2021 leak case indicates that some compromised exam centers in Sonepat were hacked with the help of a Russian expert allowing remote access to candidates' online test.
The CBI even arrested a Russian national who had allegedly come to 'train' members of the 'leak' gang at the behest of a coaching centre- indicating the kind of money involved.
Domestic 'solvers' and agents are, however, fast learning to do it on their own.
Earlier this year, the Special Operations Group of Uttarakhand Police in collaboration with the Meerut Unit of UP police's Special Task Force (STF) apprehended two suspects for 'hacking' the online entrance exam of Vellore Institute of Technology from a Dehradun based exam centre- helping students solve the paper using an app.
BREAKING THE FOOD CHAIN UP STF says it has studied the gangs and now deploys a very statistic driven approach to identify leak sources and mafia rings - provided the testing agencies are willing to share data.
However, that alone is not going to be enough.
" It is clear that the exam mafia is not going away anywhere as there is demand-supply pressure and often high-stakes single exam format so people are willing to pay up and bend rules. The only way is to bring down the pressure for students and parents. The two-stage exam for IITs with lesser numbers and multiple exam windows has worked out much better. Ideally, we should have 3-4 windows in a year. The same needs to be done for NEET too", said an official.
There are also states devising their own mechanisms.
Faced with a string of recruitment exam leaks, in 2022 the Haryana government convert its Central Eligibility test for recruitment to group C and D posts into two stage exams.
While Stage 1 was open to all, only those who cleared the first stage could appear for Stage 2 and the number was restricted to four times of the total seats available.
“We felt that bringing the stakes down and the numbers down for an exam were essential to prevent the exam leak. The two-stage process has helped us manage much better supervision”, a top official from Haryana government told ET.
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