Gujarat cops unearth IELTS exam racket

Ahmedabad: Following a month-long investigation, police in Gujarat's Mehsana district have unearthed an alleged racket wherein ineligible students received help to acquire high scores in an international english proficiency test to travel to Canada on student visas and then try and enter the US illegally, an official said on Monday.

The Mehsana police have booked 45 persons and arrested three of them, including a student from Surat, in connection with the alleged racket related to the International English Language Testing System (IELTS).

Those booked included a coaching class owner, Chief Executive of a private examination management and educational services company, and nearly two dozen students, he said.

The alleged racket has been unearthed after six youngsters from Gujarat, who were nabbed by the US border authorities in March during a failed attempt to enter America from Canada, failed to answer in english the questions asked by a US judge during court hearing.

The alleged mastermind of the racket, Amit Chaudhary, had taken Rs 10 lakh to Rs 20 lakh each from 21 students and helped them in scoring 6 to 7 bands in

IELTS exam in connivance with some staffers of Ahmedabad-based testing agency Planet EDU, said Inspector Bhavesh Rathod of the Mehsana police's Special Operations Group (SOG), who was leading the probe.