Acting on information, the Uttar Pradesh STF raided a computer lab inside the law department of a private university in Meerut when the online CSIR-NET exam was being conducted.

CSIR-NET Paper Leak: The Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police has arrested seven members of the 'Solver gang' who helped some candidates cheat in the CSIR-NET examination in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, officials said on Saturday.

According to an official statement, the STF raided a computer lab inside the law department of a private university in Meerut when the online CSIR-NET exam was being conducted.

Officials said the computer lab at Subharti University was used as a base of operations by solvers who used remote access software to help candidates cheat during CSIR-NET exams and charged huge sums of money for their 'services'.

4 candidates arrested along with 7 others

Acting on a tip-off, the investigation team raided the lab and arrested seven members of the gang, including four candidates Ankit, Tamannaah, Monika Kumar and Jyoti, said two university officials – Vineet Kumar, computer lab assistant and IT manager Arun. Sharma has also been detained.

Another accused in the case, Ankur Saini, who was employed as a server operator in the university by NSEIT, which conducts the examination, has been arrested, the STF said, adding that the accused extorted huge sums of money from the accused candidates for help. They cheat in exams.

During the raid, the investigation team seized one laptop, five CPUs, two pen drives, two CSIR NET exam admit cards, four mobile phones and other documents, three Aadhaar cards and two PAN cards, he said.

modded PC, remote access software; How the Solver gang works

According to the STF, IT manager Arun Sharma had a modified PC in his room which was connected to the closed network of the exam lab while lab assistant Vineet Kumar helped extract the server details of the cheating candidates and used remote access software to forward them. A man named Ajay who then hired 'solvers' to solve the questions asked in the exam, the answers of which were later shared with the accused candidates.

To avoid detection during inspection by invigilators during the CSIR-NET exam, Arun sent a 'STOP' message to Vineet and signaled to stop the operation while the inspection was underway, the STF investigation revealed.