Question paper scam: Ex-chairman of BOPEE arrested

The former chairman of the Jammu and Kashmir Board of Professional Entrance Examinations (BOPEE) Mushtaq Ahmad Peer was arrested by police here today in connection with the alleged question paper scam.
Peer was arrested by the Crime Branch of the state police after he presented himself for questioning for the fourth day in a row, a senior police official told PTI.
Peer is the prime suspect in the alleged scam related to the sale of question papers for Common Entrance Test (CET) 2012, conducted by the BOPEE, when he was the chairman.
The Crime Branch sleuths had conducted raids on Peer's residences at Hazratbal (Srinagar) and Sidhra (Jammu) earlier this week and recovered some documents.

Earlier, police had arrested one Sajad Ahmad Sofi who was allegedly acting as a broker between the BOPEE official and the clients for question papers.
Investigations showed the question papers were sold for as much as Rs 20 lakh per candidate.

Some 12 students had managed admissions in various professional colleges of the state after purchasing the question papers last year, the police official said.
The Crime Branch began investigating the case after some of the toppers in the CET 2012 flunked internal tests in the professional courses conducted by the colleges early this year.
The investigating agency has widened the scope of the investigations to include the CET conducted in 2010 and 2011 also.

Chief Minister Omar Abdullah has promised stern action against all those found involved in the question paper scam.