Nine held in Gauhati University marksheet scam: Police

BARPETA: Nine people including the prime accused have so far been arrested in the alleged marksheet scam in Assam's Gauhati University, police sources said on Saturday. The arrests have been made from multiple locations of Guwahati, Barpeta and Dhubri, with the latest apprehension at Dhubri on Friday, they said.

The alleged scam was first revealed by Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma at a press briefing during a visit to Barpeta on Thursday. "Those responsible for running the computerised marksheet system, take money and increase the marks…Even an operator can change the marks in the system used by GU," he said.

Sarma said six-seven cases have come to light in Barpeta, and the prime accused, who is in charge of the firm responsible for the computerised marksheet system, has been arrested. Barpeta police and CID have been pursuing the case, with the authorities tight-lipped about it to ensure a smooth investigation, the chief minister added, while expressing apprehension that such scams could be taking place in other universities also.

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Barpeta police sources said the number of arrests has gone up to nine after a junior computer assistant at Dhubri Law College was held on Friday. The scam came to light when authorities of Ganeshlal Choudhury College (GLC College) of Barpeta Road detected discrepancies in the marks of an undergraduate student. The student was also arrested in the case, besides others being held from different parts of Barpeta.