The joint investigation team (JIT) formed by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government to probe into the use of covert Bluetooth devices for cheating during the Medical and Dental College Admission Test (MDCAT) has identified the mastermind. However, the JIT did not release his name.
According to JIT sources, the mastermind was an employee of the Public Service Commission and the Federal Public Service Commission who was fired for illegal activities.
The leader “who runs the network” hails from Karak district.
As he has already served in the commissions, the sources said, the accused knows the weaknesses of the testing system and is an expert in hijacking the test.
They revealed that the accused procured the topnotch Bluetooth devices from China.
The sources said that the accused used to lure the MDCAT candidates at the academies into cheating.
The sources added that the accused received millions of rupees from candidates to help them pass the MDCAT.
Last week, the Peshawar High Court (PHC) ordered to withhold the MDCAT results on petitions filed by students regarding the use of covert Bluetooth devices for cheating in the examination hall.
The court issued orders to the chief secretary, executive director of the Education Test and Evaluation Agency (ETEA), and the registrar of the Pakistan Medical and Dental Council to provide responses regarding these allegations.
Additionally, the court temporarily prohibited the ETEA from publishing the official results on its website pending further investigation.
Justice Syed Arshad Ali of the PHC presided over the hearing of the cases pertaining to the use of covert Bluetooth devices for cheating in the MDCAT.
The court said that the MDCAT results should not be uploaded on the official website till the next hearing. Later, the court adjourned the hearing till Sept 21.
The K-P government formed the JIT to probe into the use of covert Bluetooth devices in the MDCAT on the protests by parents and submit its report within a week.
According to sources, the K-P Interior and Tribal Affairs Department formed a seven-member JIT.
According to a notification, the IG special branch would be the chairman of the JIT and higher education special secretary, special secretary health, Home Department additional secretary, representatives of Intelligence Bureau and Khyber Medical University its members.
On Sept 10, K-P Chief Secretary Nadeem Aslam Chaudhry took a firm stance against attempts to employ dishonest tactics during the MDCAT.
It came to light that certain candidates were caught attempting to use Bluetooth-enabled, pocket-sized devices connected to micro earpieces during the examination.
Over 40 students were apprehended, both before entering the examination halls and within various test centres. Authorities promptly confiscated these electronic devices, and the candidature of the implicated students was subsequently invalidated.
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