Bengaluru: Nine candidates who secured ranks within the top 100 in the ComedK entrance examination, including two among the top 10, and were under scrutiny over suspected organised malpractice, have been provisionally allowed to participate in counselling.The decision follows an inquiry by a high-powered committee, which failed to conclusively establish their direct involvement in the alleged malpractice. However, their participation in the counselling process will remain subject to the outcome of further investigation.The Consortium of Medical, Engineering and Dental Colleges of Karnataka (ComedK) had earlier barred 36 candidates from counselling after a post-result academic, administrative and forensic audit detected suspicious examination patterns at three centres in Jamshedpur. The candidates were given until July 10 to appear before ComedK authorities in Bengaluru and explain their case. Nine candidates, all ranked within the top 100, appeared in person over three days.Most maintained that they were unaware of any external devices allegedly connected to their computers and claimed that any actions by invigilators were carried out without their knowledge. A high-powered committee comprising principals of leading engineering colleges examined their responses Saturday. “Though prima facie there appears to be organised and assisted malpractice in all three centres, there is no conclusive evidence to prove and directly implicate the candidates’ involvement in securing high ranks,” the committee concluded.ComedK secretary Dr S Kumar said the suspicions arose after forensic analysis revealed unusual answer patterns. “The exam is a three-hour paper with 180 questions. We expect students to take 45-60 seconds for each question. There are instances where students completed only 16 questions in the first 100 minutes, but then attempted 80-90 questions in the next 30 minutes. There were instances of answering 92 questions in 40 minutes and 70 questions in 20 minutes,” Kumar said.ComedK suspects that questions were transmitted outside the examination centres through devices allegedly connected to candidates’ computers, solved externally and the answers relayed back through rough sheets distributed by invigilators. “Usually, students have to raise their hands for rough sheets. Here, invigilators were giving rough sheets around the 100th minute without students asking. We suspect the answers were kept between the sheets,” Kumar said.Officials also detected discrepancies between candidates’ Class 12 marks and ComedK ranks. “One candidate had failed in Maths but secured a rank above 100. Another had scored 52 in Maths in Class 12 but secured a rank within 25 in the entrance test,” Kumar added.ComedK UGET, which determines admissions to 32,670 engineering seats in Karnataka’s private colleges, was held on May 9, with over 1.1 lakh candidates appearing.FIR against invigilatorsThe committee recommended stricter scrutiny in the selection of examination centres and personnel, along with the deployment of proctor-based computer tests to collect conclusive evidence in suspected malpractice cases.Meanwhile, Jamshedpur police have questioned around 80 invigilators in connection with the case. “Around 10 are still absconding. The investigation is ongoing,” Kumar said.ComedK said an appropriate decision would be taken, as per its policy, regarding the remaining candidates who did not appear before the authorities.
