GUWAHATI, Nov 18 - The investigation into the JEE (Mains) scam has dramatically lost momentum of late and even after three weeks of it coming to light, the proxy candidate is still at large, raising several questions.
Surprisingly, the police is still in the dark about the identity and whereabouts of the proxy candidate, who appeared in the examination on behalf of Neel Nakshatra Das. Earlier, there were media reports that the proxy candidate hails from another state � like Bihar or Uttar Pradesh, etc., � and had sat in the examination by cracking the IT system of TCS. But senior police officials have denied the reports.
Again, two employees of Global Edu Light � Rubul Medhi and Rantu Das � are still on the run. Neel�s father had paid the owner of the consultancy agency to arrange the proxy candidate. Police had raided the residence of Rubul Medhi at Silpukhuri here and seized an Alto car along with some other incriminating documents.
The scam came to light last month, when the phone call recording of the accused candidate, who took the help of a proxy candidate, went viral on social media. Later, based on a complaint filed by one Mitradev Sarma, police identified the members of the gang involved in the scam and has till date arrested seven persons including the candidate Neel Nakshatra Das, his father Dr Jyotirmoy Das, the mastermind of the scam and owner of Global Edu Light Bhargav Deka, consultant of Global Edu Light Kakoli Buzarbaruah, two employees of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) � Hamendra Nath Sarma and Pranjal Kalita and one invigilator of the examination Hirukamal Pathak.
Earlier, people were optimistic that after the arrest of Bhargav Deka, the proxy candidate will fall into the police net. But it appears now that it is quite far from apprehending the proxy candidate. After a few days of police remand, the court sent Bhargav Deka to judicial custody and currently he is lodged at Guwahati Central Jail. Along with Deka, other arrested persons of the scam are also under judicial custody.
It is learnt that the National Testing Agency (NTA) has also provided all information and documents regarding the examination to Assam police, but the latter is yet to make any breakthrough about the proxy candidate.
When contacted, senior officials of Guwahati police, however, insisted that �investigation is on to trace the proxy candidate�.
Notably, to probe the scam, the Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) had formed a special investigating team (SIT) under the leadership of the Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (West) Suprative Lal Baruah. Other members of the SIT are Assistant Commissioner of Police Nandini Kakati, Inspector Pradip Chandra Kalita and Sub-inspector Hasthaisula Brahma.
