Denial of a medical seat to a truck driver’s son whose name in select list had appeared in a local newspaper is the genesis of the revolting CET scam 2012 whereby the then Chairman BOPEE Mushtaq Peer sold question papers through brokers to some candidates for Rs 60 lakh a day ahead of the test.
On Wednesday, Peer was sentenced to sixteen years in jail and fined Rs one crore while his accomplices in the crime and the beneficiary students also received punishments of varying duration.
As a prosecution witness accused turned approver in the case, Farooq Itoo has deposed how he came in touch with Mushtaq Peer in 2001 and subsequently developed friendly relations with him.
Itoo has told the court that after the declaration of the result of entrance examination in 2011, his friend Bashir Ahmed Dar approached him and told him that Mushtaq Ahmad Lone, son of his truck driver Gulam Mohi-ud-din was selected for MBBS as his name had appeared in the select list of candidates published in a newspaper.
Itoo told the court that when Lone sought admission in the Medical College, he was told that his name was published by mistake and instead a girl from Jammu Priyanka Sharma had been selected.
Itoo knew Peer since 2001 and had been in touch with him after latter was made Chairman BOPEE in 2009. He along with Bashir Ahmad Dar and accused Gh Mohi-din Lone went to Jammu and met Peer at Room No 216 of Circuit House and discussed the issue. Peer is said to have told Itoo that the name of Lone was published in the newspaper by mistake.
But on Itoo’s urging, Peer assured him that Lone would be provided a seat for B V Sc for which he had to pay Rs 3 lakh. But after repeated requests for lowering the amount, Peer agreed for Rs 1.5 lakh.
After about a week’s time, Itoo told the court, the candidate Lone was shown selected for B V SC in the select list published in a local daily and his friend Bashir Ahmed Dar gave him Rs 1.5 lakh as per the promise which he handed over to Peer at his residence.
Encouraged by the turn of events, Bashir Ahmed Dar again got in touch with Itoo in March 2012 and requested him to get his cousin admitted for MBBS. Itoo again met Peer who after initial hesitation agreed to do this upon payment of Rs 60 lakh.
Itoo deposed that he was asked by Peer to arrange three candidates who could pay Rs 20 lakh each. He informed Bashir Ahmed Dar who expressed his inability to pay such a huge amount and agreed to pay Rs five or six lakh.
Itoo said he arranged nine candidates who were ready to pay for the papers. He said his friend Sajjad Ahmed Bhat also called him as the later also facilitateds admissions for MBBS at Bangalore. Itoo deposed that he called on Peer two to three times and informed him that he had made the arrangements but would not be in a position to pay Rs 60 lakh in lump sum.
Itoo said Peer told him that he would provide the question papers a day in advance to the examination date along with answer keys and that he should make the candidates go through the papers.
The approver further deposed that he called the candidates telephonically and the six male candidates were asked to assemble at Hotel Dal Jheel, Boulevard Road and prosecution witness Manzoor Ahmed Ganai with them whereas, the three girls were taken to the house of his friend Farooq Ahmed Sheikh at Shalimar and Aijaz Ahmed Wani, a teacher in his computer institute was kept with them.
Itoo deposed that he had already collected Rs 30 lakh from the parents of the candidates which, he packed in a card board box used for packing cherry.
He went with the box to the residence of Peer at about 9 in the evening on 22 June 2012. He handed the amount to Peer who later provided him the papers of Physics and Chemistry along with answers keys for which the examination was scheduled on the following day.
Itoo said he took those papers to Shalimar where he had arranged a printer of HP make through prosecution witness Aijaz Ahmed Wani to get the papers photocopied.
He said he prepared photocopies of the papers and handed one set to the three girls through Wani and took the rest to the hotel where the six boys were kept.
Itoo deposed that he provided one set of papers to the boys and then proceeded to Raj Bagh where Sajjad Ahmed Bhat was waiting for him near Hat-Trick restaurant. He provided a set of papers to Bhat and then provided another set to Suhail Ahmed Wani who was introduced to him by his relative Javed Ahmed Dar.
“We proceeded then to Shalimar where the three girls were kept and stayed there for the night. The folowing day I directed those candidates to re-assemble at their respective places after taking the examinations”.
On 23 June 2012, Itoo said, he along with his friend Manzoor Ahmed Ganai reached Naseem Bagh in the evening as directed by Peer who reached there after a while between 9 to 10 pm and asked about the balance amount to which he replied that it would be paid after the result was out.
Peer, he said, gave him Biology paper along with answer key and thereafter he proceeded to Shalimar where he prepared photocopies of the same and gave one set to the three girls. Thereafter he proceeded to the Hotel Dal Jheel and provided another set to the six boys there.
Itoo said he called Sajjad Ahmed Bhat at Boulevard Road and handed over one set of paper along with answer key to him. The approver further said that he called Suhail Ahmed Wani and Javed Ahmed Dar also on Boulevard Road and provided Suhail Ahmed Wani another set.
Itoo told the court that he was not aware as to for whom the sets were taken by the accused Sajjad Ahmed Bhat and Suhail Ahmed Wani however, those were distributed among 40 candidates as he could guess.
He said he collected Rs 20 lakh from those candidates after around six days of declaration of the result and delivered to Peer and collected another Rs 10 lakh after 15-20 days and handed to Peer at his Jammu residence at Sidhra Colony.