Vyapam scam: Middlemen got ‘scorers’ from coaching hubs in Rajasthan

A case in point is the Pre-Medical Test 2013, for which Vyapam middlemen arranged several “scorers” from Rajasthan to sit for candidates from various parts of Madhya Pradesh, a report by the Special Task Force probing the scam had found.

According to documents accessed by The Indian Express, scorers from Kota, Alwar, Jaipur, Bharatpur, Sikar, Churu, Bundi, Baran, Jodhpur and even Barmer were brought in to appear for candidates from Madhya Pradesh.

Several such scorers were also brought in from Etawah, Kanpur, Chitrakoot, Azamgarh and Mirzapur districts of UP.

The middlemen would liaison with exam controllers and other officials at Vyapam to assign these scorers role numbers in line with the candidates they were supposed to help.

Dr Anand Rai, who blew the whistle on the scam and has filed a petition in the Supreme Court requesting a CBI probe in the matter, said these scorers were paid for by the candidates.

A five-member expert committee that analysed the STF report on the “fake” candidates, found that “70 candidates were involved in the conspiracy to get role numbers altered” in order to provide undue benefits to certain candidates. “It is clear that these 70 candidates were in touch with the scam accused (and had) conspired to get originally generated role numbers altered,” an internal investigation by Vyapam, dated December 6, 2013 had found.

These scorers-whose candidatures were cancelled by Vyapam after the scam broke out-have since been absconding, with the Madhya Pradesh police still on their lookout.

“The tentacles of this scam had spread to several other states like Bihar, UP, Maharashtra and Rajasthan and so a national-level probe is required to bring out the true scope of this scam” Dr Rai told The Indian Express.

“Coaching hubs like Kota in Rajasthan and Kanpur in UP had become ‘mandis’ to identify bright students who could serve as scorers. The middlemen would pay these students Rs 1.5 to Rs 2 lakh for sitting in for undeserving candidates in various exams,” Rai said.