S Sabaqat
Srinagar, Nov 25: A key witness today deposed before a local court here in connection with last year's scam in Common Entrance Test (CET), involving sale of papers by former Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE) chairman, to the students for entry in professional colleges.
The witness, Bashir Ahmad of Tral in south Kashmir's Pulwama district is said to have disclosed before the court how he was involved in transaction of Rs 13 lakhs in deal settled by Farooq Ahmad Itoo of Darigund Bijbhera, a close associate of the former chairman BOPEE Mushtaq Ahmad Peer with a relative of one the beneficiary students in the scam.
The student's family, as per Bashir, had sold thier orchard to pay the amount in lieu of the papers.
Pertinently the former BOPEE Chairman, Mushtaq Ahmad Peer,who was arrestedon Saturday on charges of selling the Common Entrance Test question papers last year was yesterday remanded to Crime Branch custody for 10 days by court of Sub-Register Judicial Magistrate Srinagar.
Peer has been booked for cheating (section 420 of RPC), criminal conspiracy (120-B) and some sections of Prevention of Corruption Act vide FIR (24/2013) registered by the Police Station, Crime Branch Srinagar.
Peer, he said, has been arrested on the basis of statements recorded from the brokers, students and their parents.
"Itoo of Darigund Bijbehara, proprietor of a computer institute, Infotech Computers situated in Bijbehara, a close associate of then chairman BOPEE Peer Mushtaq Ahmad, had made question papers available to some candidates against monetary consideration," a Crime Branch official had told the High Court in compliance report.
Accordingly, he said, the selection lists of 2011 and 2012 were obtained from BOPEE, GMC Srinagar/Jammu and SKIMS.
"Perusal of the records and the selection list for 2012 revealed that a good number of candidates have been selected for MBBS course from a particular area which include the candidates having average merit in their feeding 11th and 12th classes," he said, adding, "These candidates were found to have secured top positions in the CET-2012."
Out of 297 selected candidates, he said, records of first 40 candidates were securitized so far as their academic merit before selection and during MBBS course 2012-13 was concerned.
"It was revealed that 15 of them had not been allowed to sit in the first year MBBS examination as they had failed in the sessionals (internal assessment test). This created a strong suspicious that officers/officials of BOPEE, in league with Farooq Ahmad Itoo, had by abuse of their official position, fraudulently and dishonestly, made available the question papers to the beneficiaries during the conduct of CET examination 2012 to confer undue benefit upon the selected beneficiaries with a view to obtain wrongful gain for themselves," the official said.
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