3 British Council employees among 16 arrested over IELTS cheating

Police have arrested three British Council employees among 16 people for their alleged involvement in an English language qualifications test racket.

New Delhi, Nov 10: Police have arrested three British Council employees among 16 people for their alleged involvement in an English language qualifications test racket.

The racket was busted after the British Council co-ordinator in Patiala complained of fake candidates sitting in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS) examinations.

The arrested people also includes four 'imposters' who were paid to take the examination on behalf of British visa applicants. They were also arrested.

Police also said that British Council staff and the imposters who took the exams were part of an organized gang, which may have included officials from training institutes in Haryana.

According to reports, the applicants, who wanted to work or study in Britain paid more than Rs. 4-5 lakhs for an imposter do the test on their behalf.

"We have arrested seven people including, three employees of the British Council. In total 16 people have been accused in the case, and these include two from the Karnal-based Cambridge English institute,"

"During interrogation the accused imposters confessed that they had taken the IELTS exams five times earlier. They used to charge Rs 4-5 lakh for appearing in the exams. They have been charged with impersonation, criminal conspiracy and forgery," The Telegraph quoted Ashish Kapoor, an investigating officer, as saying.

Kapoor further said that they are looking into the possibility of involvement of more employees of British Council in this racket.

"The kingpin is a woman who is operating from a Haryana town, where she runs an IELTS coaching institute," he added.

ANI