KARACHI: Police probe comes up with startling revelations: IBA entrance test scam
By S. Raza Hassan
KARACHI, Dec 23: The Airport DSP, who was assigned to conduct a probe into the irregularities in the second entrance test for admission to medical colleges, submitted his findings to the higher authorities on Sunday.
The information gathered by Dawn indicates that the results of the second entrance tests conducted by the Institute of Business Administration had been manipulated before they were fed into computer.
The police probe revealed that it had all begun with a request for a favour. The IBA upper divisional clerk, Amir Hanif, aged 28, had asked his colleague, Asim Majeed, assistant test coordinator, aged 35, for a favour, as a relative of his (Amir’s) had appeared in the test.
Police sources told Dawn that Asim Majeed had at first refused, saying that the favour might land him in trouble.
The sources said, however, the third protagonist in the IBA scam, Asim Iftikhar, aged 28, had played a crucial role. He is still at large.
According to police investigation, Asim Iftikhar told Amir Hanif that he could make a fortune if he manipulated the results of 35 candidates. Amir Hanif, in turn, enticed Asim Majeed into the fraud, assuring him that the method employed to tamper with the answer scripts was foolproof.
Asim Iftikhar, an outsider and computer science graduate, provided Amir Hanif with the roll numbers of 35 candidates. The original 35 answer scripts were quietly withdrawn from the lot by Asim Majeed, who had complete access to the all the record.
Asim Majeed also managed to secure a blank answer script and handed it over to Amir Hanif who, in turn, passed it onto Asim Iftikhar.
The Airport DSP, Haseeb Baig, who led the investigation, told Dawn that the entire fraud had been masterminded by Asim Iftikhar who had photocopied the blank answer script and reproduced 35 scripts.
“The reproduced answer scripts were of such superior quality that they were hard to detect,” he explained.
The DSP said that Asim Iftikhar had graded the answer scripts smartly, not giving 100 per cent marks to any one so as to avoid suspicion. He had also used fake IBA stamps.
He said Asim Majeed had also provided an answer key to Asim Iftikhar through Amir Hanif.
Asim Iftikhar had returned the fake answer scripts to Asim Majeed.
“The delivery of the fake answer scripts took place in a car parked near Disco Bakery. Amir Hanif gave the answer scripts to Asim Majeed who placed them in the graded lot,” the sources said.
The following morning, the results had been fed into computer so that the results could be prepared, they added.
The DSP said Asim Iftikhar’s father had told the police that his son had done BSc in computer science and taught in a well- known coaching centre.
“Despite being out of work at least for the past two years, the suspect had visited Singapore on May 28 and June 8, 1998, on a 14-day visit visa.”
The sources said the passport of Asim Iftikhar, which had been confiscated by the police during a raid on his residence in FB Area, also showed a visa for Romania issued on Dec 3, 1999. But he had not visited the country.
The two suspects, Amir Hanif and Asim Majeed, who were booked under the sections 406, 409, 420 and 468/32 of the Pakistan Penal Code would be produced for further remand on Monday morning.
“We have reason to believe that Asim Iftikhar has fled to Lahore,” the DSP said.
Asim Iftihar’s parents had also left for Lahore, the police said.
The inquiry officer said: “In the next phase, we will start interrogating the 35 candidates and their parents to find out as to how they came into contact with Asim Iftikhar.”
