Studious students of Telangana got huge shock when news of EAMCET 2 paper leaks cameout sometime back. All hardworking students prayed silently that the news should be wrong. However all their fears came true when CM KCR decided to annul EAMCET 2 after going through the CID investigation reports and hold meeting with the Vice Chancellors, Ministers and getting legal advice.
CM KCR turning serious asked officials to device method by which EAMCET can be made fool proof and can be conducted online like GRE,GMAT,SAT,JEE etc. CM KCR says “Even parents who were involved in purchasing question papers from fraudsters should not be spared. Everyone involved in this scam have to face severe consequences. We should initiate such severe action against them that it will create a sense of fear among those who try to resort to such exam-related malpractices in future,"
Parents and students protested against cancellation of the exams as it would put extra pressure on students to undergo the process of preparing and appearing for the entrance exam once again. CID in the meanwhile arrested 52-year-old Shaik Raheem alias Ramesh from the city outskirts. Investigations found that Shaik Raheem contacted 14 students in Telangana and AP assuring them that he had the original question papers.
Raheem took Rs 15 to Rs 20 lakhs from each student and then took them to a resort in Pune where he gave them three sets of TS EAMCET-II-2016 (medical) question papers and answers. Of the three sets of question papers, only one of them is released two hours before the exam. He had collected Rs 1.73 crores in cash from the 14 students. Shaik Raheem distributed Rs 1.2 crores among other brokers and agents who facilitated the leak and managed the transportation and accommodation of the students to Pune and back to Hyderabad.
It was found that few days before the EAMCET exam for admission to medical and dental colleges, more than 70 students from Telangana caught flights out to Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kanigiri in Andhra Pradesh, in multiple batches. Students were handed question papers with their answers in the hotels and later they were found to score terrific marks compared to their academic record. The police, who have arrested four people, believe each student paid 10 to 30 lakh rupees for getting access to the questions before the exam in a multi-crore scam.
Protestign parents said "It is harrowing. They should just take out those found guilty and follow merit for the rest,'' On student Akhileswar Reddy said "They said I should pay 25 lakh rupees and they would take me to a secret location where I would get the question paper, along with the answers, before I sat for the exam,'' G.Ravi,civil engineer for Warangal alerted police found that some of his daughter's classmates scored higher than her in EAMCET though she was a consistent performer in academics. Ravi said "I found out that these students had gone missing about five to six days before the exam. And then whoever had gone missing got surprisingly high marks,''
Karthik claimed that he knew about possible leak even before the first EAMCET. He said “My friend asked if I was ready to spend Rs 25 lakh for a top rank. It sounded impossible and I feared I might lose my money. The amount was also big for me,” Another student said “One of my friends, who had under performed badly in last year’s exam, a high score this year. I have a strong suspicion that he paid money and got the paper. We used to study together but he simply disappeared in the final days of our preparation.”
Rajagopal Reddy, Bengaluru based man informed that he even leaked previous EAMCET exam held in May. Over a lakh students appeared for the first exam and about 50,000 appeared for this month's EAMCET-2 after confusion over national exam NEET. It is coming out that the paper was leaked from Delhi printing press. It is coming out that nexus of private medical colleges, practicing doctors, educational consultants operate to leak question papers as it happened in 2014 Dr NTR University of Health Sciences PG medical entrance test scam and the 1996 Eamcet scam.
The modus operandi is that educational consultants chalk out an elaborate plan with tip offs from college officials, and practicing doctors prepare the answer key once the papers are leaked from the printing press. The gang then strikes deals with the candidates for both the question paper and the answer key. There are many similarities in the modus operandi of the past two scams and the newest Eamcet-2 scam.
It is coming out that students and their parents paid Rahim over Rs 1.73 crore.CID chief N.Satyanarain said “He contacted students from various parts of AP and Telangana and took them to Pune,” and added he paid Rs 1.2crs to another broker. It is coming out that more than 100 students benefited from the leak.
18-year-olds BLR Sathwik, Thangeda Koushik and Daram Shiva Kumar and their performance in three consecutive tests explains students' frustration in being made to take test after test to prove their mettle.Sathwik first secured 108th rank in AP Eamcet, 96th in T Eamcet 1 and 170th in T Eamcet 2. Koushik's hard work paid off with 53rd rank in AP Eamcet, 8th and 158th in T Eamcet 1 and 2 respectively. For Shiva Kumar, the respective ranks were 9th, 43rd and 19th.
D.Prabhakar said "My son Shiva Kumar's ranks in three Eamcets did not surprise me as he has been a consistent performer in academics all along, securing over 98% marks in Intermediate and 10/10 in SSC," Shiva Kumar said "I burnt the midnight oil to achieve top ranks. Now, I am totally confused,"
Prakash Rao, father of T.Koushik resident of Warangal said "Had the Telangana government gone ahead without postponing the first Eamcet-1, scheduled on May 2, the paper leak incident might not have happened in the first place. I will not accept if my son is punished for no fault," It is known that government was forced to postpone the Eamcet-1 exam to May 15 after the strong private colleges' lobby refused to let their premises be used for the exam following raids conducted by officials on their colleges.
Sathvik says "I secured better ranks in AP Eamcet and TS Eamcet-1. So, it is a clear proof that it was sheer hard work that made me an achiever and not through back door,"
