CAT scam kingpin: you name it, and he’ll leak it

The 2003 CBSE medical entrance test enhanced Ranjit’s reputation of being a dexterous, if not so stealthy, operator. Of the 1,200 plus available medical seats, more than 600 went to Biharis, whether Ranjit had anything to do with it or not.

The Indian Express spoke to several people who have known him and people who have taken favours from him. What emerges is a picture of the son of a Class IV employee first getting himself a dubious MBBS degree, then hundreds of others at a price and growing up to own a company with a turnover of Rs 60 crore—all in less than a decade.

In his mid-thirties, Ranjit would often come to his Kankerbagh house in Patna and take the next fight back—the last visit was on Friday, two days before being picked up by the CBI in Delhi. Sources who have known him put his worth at Rs 200 crore. ‘‘In the previous medical entrance season, he made Rs 10 crore,’’ said a source.

Ranjit is said to be a 1994 graduate from the Darbhanga Medical College, which was closed last week following controversies of a different nature, but was never known in Patna’s medical fraternity as a practioner. However, many doctors knew him as the man who could fix a medical admission for their wards.

Hundreds of them used his network and some soon became active conduits in the operation—a very senior doctor in Rajendra Nagar is missing since yesterday after the CBI closed in.

Whenever he helped a doctor’s relative, Ranjit entered into a verbal agreement—till the candidate finished the course, the doctor would prescribe medicines manufactured by his company Radon Pharma. In the last three years, the company’s annual turnover grew to Rs 60 crore.

There were other gangs too in the trade but Ranjit soon overshadowed everyone. Sources said it was a jealous opponent who gave the CBI the lead.

As Ranjit became a familiar figure in the medical and bank exam circuits in the last 8-9 years, his rates grew. He was known to have access to other exams as well but those areas were never publicised. Last year, the rate for a medical seat was Rs 7 lakh, Rs 1 lakh more than the previous year, but those who had direct access to him would get it for Rs 5 lakh.

The modus operandi was mostly leaking the question paper but in extreme cases, he could even set up proxy examinees. A couple of lakhs were paid in advance and the gang would take all the certificates of the candidate in its custody. The students and, if desired, parents too were taken to an examination centre decided by the gang. The night before the examination, they would all get the question papers and the assistance to solve them. They were not allowed to go out or even make phone calls till the exam was over.

Sources who have known Ranjit say he was so trusted by parents of aspiring doctors that even girls would be sent unescorted with him to any city suggested. Once the candidates’ names appeared on the selected list, the rest of the amount would be paid and the documents returned.

As investigators piece together one of the biggest examination scandals ever, they have realised that Ranjit had access to several other areas as well. Patna Town DSP Rakesh Kumar Dubey says Ranjit’s name figures in the confession statement of the people arrested in a case related to the leak in a clerical-level examination on October 19.

Nalanda SP Amit Lodha says he had information about Ranjit’s activities as his name had cropped up during investigation into an SBI exam leak, and claims he had alerted the CBI.

As he journeyed from rags to riches, ambition too grew. After being a contributor to politicians, Ranjit soon desired to enter politics himself. In Hilsa, his native place, and the neighboring block of Chandi, he is said to have helped hundreds of families with an eye on politics. Early last year, he got married into a business family — and, sources say, 7,000 people were invited.