Mangalore, May 21: Four persons were arrested on the grounds of seat blocking scandal, the accused are also the agents who have appeared for COMEDK exams earlier. The mastermind of the scam, however, is still to be caught. Investigators also suspect involvement of some people from the state’s top colleges.
Karnataka has recently uncovered a huge scam running to near hundred crores. The scam involves medical and engineering students. The base of the scandal was found in the Consortium of Medical, Engineering, and Dental Colleges of Karnataka-COMEDK exams.
Here is a glimpse of how it is done. Firstly, potential and ’vulnerable’ student, who are experienced in tackling the exam are identified by the criminal elements, touts and agents. These students often cannot afford to pay fees in a private college so offer to help the touts in exchange of money starting from 1 lakh to 5 lakh rupees. When the students clear the exam and earn a seat, they surrender it to the college just before admissions close. The college then turns the available seat into management quota to demand a huge sum as ’donation’, which will cost Rs. 5 lakh to even one crore for a seat.
COMEDK office was raided by the crime department in Malleshwaram, Bangalore. The leads were collected through arrested students it is learnt. Several important documents and applications were seized and are being investigated to understand how deep this scandal has spread.
The higher education ministry of Karnataka says it is monitoring investigations. More than 1.2 lakh students have appeared for this exam recently. There are possibilities of more scams coming out after the results on 4th of June.
