Shocking JEE Mains cheating case! Russian accused of hacking, helping 820 cheat online

The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested a Russian national, identified as Mikhail Shargin, for hacking the JEE Main 2021 examination software. He was arrested by the Immigration Bureau of the Indira Gandhi International Airport, New Delhi. He had arrived there from Kazakhstan. He is speculated to be the mastermind behind the software hacking of the engineering entrance examination. Airport authorities were aware that he is a suspect of last year's exam scam that took place in September. CBI is interrogating Mikhail who was allegedly at the centre of the scam in 2021. NDTV has revealed that the Russian helped as many as 820 candidates to cheat.

Here’s all you need to know about JEE Main cheating case

The Joint Engineering Exam or JEE Main, is a computer-based exam held across the country to offer admission to prestigious engineering colleges like IITs, NITs, state engineering colleges and others. Last year, nearly 10 lakh students took the exam.

Since the exam is conducted in online mode, Mikhail Shargin had allegedly hacked TCS Software for the JEE Mains Exam, said CBI.

Shargin's hacking let students cheat as it allowed 'teachers' or 'coaches' to take charge of their computers and appear for the exam instead of students.

As per the reports, a case was registered last year citing that the staff of a private coaching institute named Affinity Education in Uttar Pradesh's Noida, had charged Rs. 12- 15 lakh to solve the question paper for students. The scammers get 'remote access' to examination papers through an examination centre in Sonepat in Haryana.

The scam allegedly involves several foreign nationals while 20 suspected students were banned from taking the exam for the next three years. A case was registered by the CBI 6. Raids were conducted in different cities and the investigation agency has seized laptops and other equipment that was used in the scam.

"It was also alleged that the accused used to obtain class 10 and 12 mark sheets, user IDs, passwords, and post dated cheques of aspiring students in different parts of the country as security and once admission was done, they used to collect heavy amount ranging from 12-15 lakh (approx) per candidate," the bureau said.