JEE Main 2021 scam: CBI arrests Russian national

The suspect , identified as Mikhail Shargin, had a lookout circular issued against him. He was detained at immigration at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi upon arrival from Almaty, Kazakhstan. 

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested a Russian national for his alleged role in tampering the software of the Joint Entrance Examination (JEE) Main 2021.  The suspect, identified as Mikhail Shargin, had a lookout circular issued against him. He was interrogated by agency slueths after being picked up from the Bureau of Immigration at Indira Gandhi International Airport in Delhi where he was detained upon arrival from Almaty, Kazakhstan. 

A press statement said the suspect had allegedly tampered with the iLeon software (the platform on which the JEE Main 2021 was conducted) and that he helped other accused in hacking the computer systems of suspect candidates during the examination.

The JEE Main 2021 Scam 

The CBI had booked Affinity Education Pvt Ltd and its three directors, Siddharth Krishna, Vishwambhar Mani Tripathi and Govind Varshney, besides other touts and associates for alleged manipulation of JEE Main examination in September 2021. 

The accused were manipulating the JEE Main examination which is conducted in online mode and facilitating aspiring students to get admission in top National Institutes of Technology by solving their question papers through remote access from a chosen examination centre in Sonepat, Haryana. 

Searches were conducted at 19 places, including Delhi, Pune, Indore, Bangalore and Jamshedpur, and officers had seized 25 laptops, 30 post-dated cheques, several personal computers and other incriminating documents and devices. 

The JEE Main exam is conducted by the National Testing Agency (NTA) in online mode through which admission to undergraduate level engineering courses B.E, B.Tech takes place. NITs, IIITs and IITs also take admission through JEE mains. JEE Main is the gateway to the IIT entrance - JEE Advanced. 

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