New Delhi, Nov 23: A nation-wide racket in leakage of question papers involving crores of rupees was today busted with the arrest of four persons here leading to cancellation of the Combined Admission Test (CAT) for Indian Institutes of Management in which about 1.3 lakh students appeared across the country. The CBI, on a tip off, arrested four persons, including three doctors from Bihar, from a hotel in Mahipalpur area of South West Delhi, while they were allegedly giving out questions along with answers of cat to four candidates.
They said raids were on at five places in Patna in search for the kingpin who runs a pharmaceutical company in Mumbai.
The CBI said the papers seized from the four arrested persons matched with the original as all 150 questions were found to be the same.
Shortly after busting of the racket, Union Human Resource Development Ministry contacted authorities at IIM, Ahmedabad, the coordinating body for the All India Exams, and cancelled the examination.
"Once we got the information that the paper has indeed leaked, I ordered that the examination be cancelled. There should not be a feeling among the students that the tests are unfair", HRD Minister M M Joshi told reporters.
CBI claimed the gang, whose kingpin was one Ranjit Singh alias Ranjit Don, had been selling the papers for Rs two to Rs four lakhs and was involved in leakage of other papers like All India Medical Exams, CBSE pre-medical and Bank Probationary Officers.
Meanwhile, five persons were arrested by police in Pune today in connection with the sale of leaked papers of Combined Admission Test of Indian Institute of Management, police said.
Police said the persons were arrested for selling the papers to the students who were appearing for the examination.
Students appearing for admission to top management institutes all over the country today reacted with anger and anguish over the leakage of the Common Admission Test (CAT) papers and the subsequent cancellation of the examination, saying their year-long hard work has gone down the drain without their fault.
"We have put in several months of hard work preparing for what is considered the toughest entrance test in the world for admission to management courses. We stand to lose a lot due to the cancellation of the tests," said Harsh, who appeared for the CAT today.
Nearly 1.3 lakh students appeared for the CAT at various centres all over the country.
Expressing anguish over the leakage of the question papers, Deepti felt over a lakh students were unnecessarily penalised for the wrong doings of a few.
Dismayed over the cancellation of the cat, management student Shruti reacted angrily.
"The decision to cancel the cat has upset my study schedules. I am preparing for other entrance tests in February," she said.
In Kolkata, one Saikat said the leakage of the question paper reflects poorly on the education system in the country.
"The IIMs are prestigious institutions. Several multi-national companies recruit personnel from here. Such incidents may raise doubts in their mind," he said.
Bureau Report