1,000 mostly Gujarati students face risk of deportation to India

The students are suspected of gaining admission to US universities through fraudulent means

The newest scandal involving some Indian students in the US, looks straight out of a Bollywood movie. It is alleged that over 1,000 students gained admission to US universities through fraudulent means.

In a potboiler like modus operandi, the racket worked where the aspiring students wishing to go to the US would pay the accused who would then connect a Bluetooth keypad to the student’s laptop during the exams like IELTS required for US university admission.

The bluetooth device would enable the masterminds to write the answers discreetly without being caught by the examiner. The student would pretend to write the answers while they were assisted by a party of three people in India who are now under arrest.

While Indians remain one of the largest ethnic groups to arrive in the US for study, in a new emerging case over 1,000 students from India are under the FBI scanner for alleged admission involving fraud. Most of these students hail from Gujarat.

The matter came to light with the Mehsana Police booked 42 individuals involved in an alleged IELTS scam. The Cyber Cell arrested three people involved in manipulating various exams required for admission to postgraduate courses in US universities.

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According to reports, the FBI has reached out to them regarding the potential deportation of more than 1,000 students from the US. It is expected that the FBI will be investigating further.

The three individuals arrested in India in connection with the scam are Maheshwara Cherla (Reddy), Chandrashekhar Karlapudi, and Sagar Hirani. Cherla and Karlapudi are from Andhra Pradesh while Hirani is from Surat in Gujarat. The police have also recovered several electronic devices, including laptops, CPUs, and mobile phones, from the accused.

According to Indian police, all these arrested individuals were highly educated and followed a smooth modus operandi for their crime. While one of them is pursuing a Bachelor of Computer Science course, another individual Hirani has completed his Bachelor of Engineering and IT and used to work as a visa consultant.

The third person involved holds a BTech degree. The accused used to charge Rs 70,000 ($860) from each student who was aspiring to study in the US.

Hirani would take pictures of the exam questions and send them to Chandrashekhar alias Rahul who would then forward the questions to Maheshwara Reddy, who would provide the answers.

Hirani would connect a Bluetooth keypad to the student’s laptop during the exam, enabling him to write the answers discreetly without being noticed by the examiner. The accused operated this racket for about a year, booking hotel rooms to manipulate the exams.